Story Created:
Jun 26, 2008 at 1:25 PM AKDT
Story Updated:
Jun 26, 2008 at 1:25 PM AKDT
Since Wednesday night, nearly 800 acres of forest have been burned in a wildfire that continues unabated northeast of Venetie. 50 crew members continued to work to control the blaze throughout the evening.
The wildfire began on Saturday, when flames escaped from the Venetie local dump. The fire grew rapidly as high winds spread the fire quickly.
Local efforts to fight the blaze have included the use of a bulldozer, however this only briefly suppressed the fire, which shortly flared back up again.
Eventually two loads of smoke-jumpers, two fire retardant tankers and two water-dropping tankers responded to the scene.
Latest reports put the fire heading towards Venetie Lake, which should slow it down.
