Park to Burn Piles of Debris to Reduce Fire Risk

Pile burning near McCarthy, Alaska

Jessica Sherwood, NPS

News Release Date: July 16, 2014

Wrangell-St. Elias National Parkand Preserve wildland fire staff will burn 40 piles of debris consisting of trees and brush beginning July 21 through July 26. The piles are located at the Kiagna cabin site near McCarthy. 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 National Park Service fire personnel conducting hazardous fuels treatment project that occurred on the properties during 2011 and 2012. The decreased vegetation creates a fire wise perimeter around the sites in an event of wildfire.

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 thefire 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.