My former employee Andrew Johnson took this shot on Friday afternoon in the Goldstream valley. My home and office are on the other side of the hill.
While visiting Canada over the weekend, I received many calls from friends who could see flames and smoke leaping from the hillside near my home and office in Fairbanks, Alaska on Friday. The prevailing winds blew the fire away from the subdivision, after getting as close as 1 mile from my home. The fire at this point is 60% contained, which is largely the result of a heavy assault by fire crews via air and ground support, dropping retardent and cutting break lines.
Forest fires are common in Alaska’s interior, but this is a little early, and this particular one mighty close to home.
Fortunately, I have a backup set of hard drives (my digital life in a little brown box), which a friend grabbed and took to a safe location just in case.
If you have been following my blog you may remember my attempt last year to get up close shots of a forest fire, well, were I here that would have certainly happened.
There are some pretty wild photos on the Fairbanks Daily News Miner article.
Many many thanks to all the fire fighting crews and support staff who have been and still are working hard to keep the fire under control. And, thanks also to all of my friends who offered assistance.
