News Release

New wildfire in remote NW portion of Denali National Park and Preserve

Date: July 8, 2022
Contact: Sharon Stiteler (Public Affairs Officer), 907-683-9583
Contact: Keith Mitchell (Acting Fire Management Officer), 907-683-9549

The Starr Fire (#508), caused by lightning, was discovered on July 7, 2022 burning on the east side of the Muddy River in the northwestern corner of the North Preserve portion of Denali National Park and Preserve. It is currently estimated at 60 acres. This fire is located approximately 40 miles northwest of Kantishna. An edge of the fire crossed the Muddy River and has burned 10 acres on the west side. Crews initially utilized two Fire Boss aircraft to work the fire, and used a rotor wing today for bucket drops. Eight smoke jumpers are on site working to suppress the fire in order to protect native Allotments that are within a few miles of the fire.

The Starr Fire is part of the Paradise Complex, a group of fires which currently consists of seven fires. In addition to the Starr Fire, there are four fires on Bureau of Land Management land (American #504, Leaf #385, Bear Paw #510, and Sischu #507) and two fires on State of Alaska land (Snohomish #225 and Hog Butte #185). This complex of fires currently covers 246,513 acres and is staffed by 47 personnel. At 0700 on July 9, a Type 3 Incident Management Team will take charge of the complex.

Updates on acreage for the Starr Fire and other fires statewide are included daily in the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Situation Report.

Park visitors may encounter smoke from various wildfires in the state, dependent on fire behavior and weather conditions. When air quality advisories for Denali are issued by Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), they will be posted throughout the park. More information about wildfire smoke, health risks, and steps that can be taken to reduce exposure to smoke can be found at the ADEC air quality advisory/episode website(s): https://dec.alaska.gov/Applications/Air/airtoolsweb/Advisories and https://dec.alaska.gov/air/air-monitoring/alaska-air-quality-real-time-data.