Alaska wildfire quickly grows, forces homes to evacuate

HOUSTON, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska wildfire that’s mushroomed in size was prompting help Monday from people offering their homes to scores of displaced residents and their animals.

The human-caused fire reported north of Anchorage Sunday led to the voluntary evacuation of up to 1,700 homes. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion. Gov. Bill Walker announced he planned to travel to Palmer Monday and for a briefing and then take an aerial tour of the fire, which burned at least 25 homes and up to 20 other structures including sheds and outhouses.

Fire information spokesman Tim Mowry said 210 residents signed in at evacuation centers in Houston and near Talkeetna.

Residents with properties away from the fire have been taking to Facebook on a site dedicated to the fire to offer their homes and properties to displaced people.

Among them is Kendra Zamzow, who is offering space for people and animals on her 2-acre property in the community of Chickaloon about 50 miles southeast of the fire.

“I have plenty of room,” she said.

The blaze was reported at just 2 acres Sunday afternoon and had burned through more than 10 square miles by early Monday, officials said. It chewed through forest and brush around Willow, in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough about 40 miles from Anchorage.

“It’s got a little wind behind, it has a lot of fuel and it’s grown,” said Tim Mowry, spokesman for the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

Evacuations grew along with the blaze: Officials first reported residents of 10 homes fleeing, then 20. Mowry said the voluntary evacuations applied to the 1,700 residential structures in the Willow area.

More than 2,000 rural residents are spread along about 20 miles of the Parks Highway, which was intermittently closed. Even when the highway was open, traffic was delayed as drivers were guided by a pilot car. It’s

Even an evacuation center had to be evacuated. Emergency officials set up the shelter at a community center on the highway, but news reports said later that the people there were sent to a middle school.

One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion, Matanuska-Susitna Borough spokeswoman Patty Sullivan said. No additional details were released.

The fire jumped to both sides of Parks Highway and was moving south, Mowry said, but firefighters were expecting that its growth would slow with higher humidity.

People started the blaze, but Mowry did not have additional details.

The blaze has been dubbed the Sockeye Fire for the avenue in Willow where it started and where homes were evacuated quickly after it was reported. The response was swift and strong because of the fire’s proximity to homes.

“We’re throwing everything we can at it at this point,” Mowry said.

Tankers unloaded retardant, and a helicopter dropped loads of water as more aircraft planned to join the fight. Nearly 200 personnel were battling the blaze and more expected, Sullivan said.