Wrangell St Elias National Park and Preserve to Burn Piles of Debris to Reduce Fire Risk

Wildland Fire Staff Igniting a Debris Pile Near McCarthy.

Jessica Sherwood, NPS

News Release Date: April 22, 2013

Copper Center, Alaska -Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve wildland fire staff will burn piles of debris consisting of trees and brush beginning April 23 through May 3. The piles are located in the McCarthy and Kennecott vicinity with additional burn piles near the Chokosna River off the McCarthy road and at the Viking Lodge public use cabin, mile marker 21.8 off the Nabesna road. Fire staff will ignite the debris piles in the morning and monitor them throughout the day. Smoke may be visible throughout the area.

The piles resulted from an interagency effort in 2011 and 2012 to reduce thick vegetation along the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park boundary at McCarthy. The decreased vegetation reduces the fire risk to McCarthy and increases public and firefighter safety during a wildfire.Burning the debris piles is the last step before completing this successful project. Visit https://www.nps.gov/wrst/parkmgmt/firemanagement.htm for more information about the park's wildland fire management program.

Learn how fire staff reduce the fire risk to NPS structures and how you can do it too at https://www.nps.gov/akso/nature/fire/firefuels.cfm.

For additional information, contact Wrangell-St. Elias Public Affairs at [phone] or visit https://www.nps.gov/wrst/index.htm.