Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 38 degrees. Ceiling and visibility zero due to dense morning fog. Slight north wind at 3 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Cooler temperatures are keeping the fires down, but not out. About 85% of the East ridge has burned in a mosaic, up and down pattern. We need some of the Fairbanks rain.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 42 degrees. Ceiling 6000' broken with patches of morning fog, visibility 10 miles with patches of morning fog over the Alatna Hills. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The third crew change took place yesterday as this fire has a mind of its own. A bit of rain and cooler temperatures helps a lot. More rain please.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.8, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 5000' overcast, visibility 10 miles in light smoke with patches of early morning fog. SE wind at 10 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Yesterday brought light rain and morning fog which quieted the fires. A southeast wind started up in the afternoon and trees started torching again. We need several days of rain to quell the fires.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.8, temperature 58 degrees. Ceiling 2000' overcast with patches of fog, visibility 10 miles in medium smoke. SE winds at 4 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Rain. Not much, but some, buying us time. Two brief but wetting rains; one around midnight, the other around 4:00A quiet the fire for now. More rain please.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 60 degrees. Ceiling 6000' overcast with smoke, visibility 5 miles in dense smoke. South winds at 8 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Yesterday the BLM AFS Incident Commander changed the status of this fire from creeping to running. No rain, sun and increasing wind awakened all the fires on the east ridge and they advanced significantly.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 6000' overcast with smoke, visibility 3 miles in dense smoke. Slight SE winds.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Warmer temperatures and SE winds are kicking up the fires again. This morning the smoke is acrid, pungent and dense. No rain in sight.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.0, temperature 38 degrees. Ceiling 6000' broken, visibility 10 miles with light smoke and morning fog. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The Incident Commander boated down yesterday. He and one other smokejumper are the remaining crew. A spotter plane flies over daily to monitor and map the fire. A minimal crew is good news as we wait for rain to put out the fires.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 50 degrees. Ceiling 6000' broken, visibility 10 miles in medium smoke. SW winds at 3 knots.

Iniakuk Lake Fire Update: Yesterday brought a dark rain cloud that sat right over the fire closest to the lodge, and rained. My sentiments exactly! The rain didn't last long but every bit helps and buys us more time.

BLM and AFS had their third crew change out yesterday as we observed the one month mark of this fire. We hope there is more rain coming.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 50 degrees. Ceiling 5000' patchy clouds, visibility 5 miles in smoke with a bit of morning fog. The slight rain was falling earlier, but has stopped. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Unceasing SE winds with little or no rain for days has caused one of the closest fires on the east ridge to come alive. The Incident Commander boated down at 9:30p last night to let us know this was not good news and they would be back in the morning. We need a long, hard rain.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 5000' partly cloudy with morning fog bank at 1500'. Visibility 5 miles in fog and smoke. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Rain is forecast, but we don't seem to get much. Last night the SE wind cranked up to 10 knots awakening new hot spots. I watched as many trees torched in the wind. Rain would be nice.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.0, temperature 52 degrees. Ceiling 6000' overcast, visibility 5 miles, the Alatna Hills are hidden in smoke. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The forecasted rains didn't make it to us, however, temperatures and relative humidity stayed fairly low all day keeping the fires quiet. Air quality was not great during the night, a north wind will help with that. Rain please.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.1, temperature 58 degrees. Ceiling 6000' scattered, visibility 5 miles with dense smoke at the south end of Iniakuk Lake over the Alatna Hills. North winds at 10 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: A section of the east ridge closest to Iniakuk Lodge started to heat up last night. Rain is the only thing that will put this fire out. And we wait for rain.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.1, temperature 38 degrees. Ceiling unlimited, visibility 10 miles in light smoke. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Yesterday brought a brief but significant rain which helped quell the fire. Lower temperatures, higher humidity and lots of rain are what we need to put the east ridge fire out. We estimate 80% of the east ridge has burned.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.0, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 6000' with large patches of fog, visibility 8 miles in significant smoke. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The east ridge fire laid low yesterday due to cooler temperatures and more moisture in the air. We are waiting for the rain.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.1, temperature 56 degrees. Ceiling 500' with rain fog and smoke. Visibility 5 miles with rain fog and smoke. SE winds at 10 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Rain! The east ridge fire has quieted down, but is not out. The overnight rain helped buy us some time. This fire has been burning for three weeks; one light rain helps, but won't put it out.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.2, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 6000' slight overcast and smoke. Visibility 5 miles with dense smoke over the Alatna Hills. SE winds at 5 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Another hot day with temperatures in the high 80's and brisk SE then west winds kept the east ridge fires going. NOAA is reporting cooler temperatures and some rain which would make a huge difference.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.2, temperature 52 degrees. Ceiling 6000' slight overcast with smoke. Visibility 5 miles with dense smoke. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Yesterday BLM AFS smokejumpers started a backfire at the east Native allotment property. It was 89 degrees with a brisk northwest wind (very unusual). One spot got away from them, the helicopter based at Iniakuk Lodge flew to the scene and dropped bucket after bucket of water.

Through the smoke blanketing the lake I can see huge columns of smoke curling up from the east ridge fire. It ramped up due to the hot temperatures and wind. We are next for a backburn which is inevitable unless it rains and slows the fire.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.3, temperature 52 degrees. To the north, ceiling is unlimited. At Iniakuk Lodge and looking south, ceiling is obscured with dense smoke and morning fog. Visibility 5 miles with dense smoke and morning fog. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Temperatures soared to 89 degrees giving the fire new life. BLM AFS smokejumpers successfully set a backfire to protect the trapper cabin at the south end of Iniakuk Lake. Today if conditions permit, they will start a backfire at the east allotment to stop the march of that section of the fire.

The east ridge burned brightly all day and into the night as I watched trees continuously erupt in flames. Another lightening strike on the west ridge became active mid afternoon, was jumped and put out. BLM has added 20 smokejumpers to the Iniakuk fire making 31 in camp at the south end.

We wait for rain.

Iniakuk Lake Fire and Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.2, temperature 50 degrees. Ceiling obscured due to dense smoke. Visibility 2 miles with dense smoke. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The fire came awake yesterday afternoon advancing within 1/4 mile of the trapper cabin at the south end of the lake. A spot flared up again on the east ridge and I watched the fire slowly engulf trees. The smoke is thick this morning because we have no wind. We also have had no rain.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.2, temperature 48 degrees. Ceiling unlimited, visibility to the north unlimited, to the south 10 miles with a thick bank of smoke forming over the Alatna Hills. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The fire is laying low but continues to munch on trees and lichen on the east ridge. There is little rain in the forecast and we hope that changes. Thick smoke is visible at the south end of Iniakuk Lake where the fire advances slowly.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.1, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 6000' broken, visibility 10 miles. Air quality today is the best it's been in weeks. SE winds at 8 knots.

Iniakuk Lake Fire Update: We welcomed a brief but significant rain yesterday. Every bit of moisture helps damp down the fire until it finally goes out. The smell of smoke is in the air, but it's not as dense as usual.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 62 degrees. Ceiling 6000' overcast with light smoke, visibility 10 miles with light smoke. SE winds at 8 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: BLM AFS dropped smokejumpers yesterday for the crew changeout. Many thanks to the crew that saw us through the early days. The fire moves slowly at the south end of Iniakuk Lake and patches flare up on the east ridge as we wait for rain.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.0, temperature 48 degrees. Ceiling 6000' scattered. Visibility looking north is unlimited, looking south is 5 miles with thick smoke. A thick band of smoke is settling on Iniakuk Lake. The Alatna Hills are not visible, too much smoke. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Today marks the two week point since the lightening strike and there will be a crew change. BLM will change out the smokejumpers on Sunday. The fire has kicked up to the south, marching ever onward. Many thanks to the first team of smokejumpers, we will miss you.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.0, temperature 46 degrees. Ceiling 6000' scattered, visibility 10 miles with smoke at the south end. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The fire continues to burn around the corner, out of sight. Last night we spotted smoke plumes from trees going up. Rain would really help.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.0, temperature 52 degrees. Ceiling and visibility zero due to dense morning fog and light smoke. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Eighteen smokejumpers are at Iniakuk Lake monitoring the slowly encroaching fire. A brief rain, cooler temperatures and higher humidity buys us time until a soaking rain puts the fire out. A partial crew climbed the ridge to put out spot fires but found there was too much heat. So we wait for rain.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 54 degrees. Ceiling 6000' scattered, visibility 5 miles with dense smoke. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: East ridge flames kicked up again early yesterday evening. Around the corner, out of our sight, the fire soldiers on, advancing slowly. This morning dense smoke is settling on Iniakuk Lake. The smokejumpers keep us informed.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 52 degrees. Ceiling and visibility zero due to dense morning fog and a bit of smoke.

Iniakuk Fire Update: The east ridge fire laid fairly low yesterday until a T-storm blew up late in the afternoon. The fog is thick with the smell of wood smoke and visibility is zero. I will post when the fog burns off and I can see.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.9, temperature 58 degrees. Ceiling 6000' broken with smoke, visibility 5 miles with dense smoke. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Fires on the east ridge were calm until late afternoon when a brisk SE wind blew up. The ridge lit up again with many trees topped out in flames. Then thunder and lightening and . . . rain. Enough rain to push the flames back down for the night, but there is still plenty of smoke.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.8, temperature 60 degrees. Ceiling 6000' overcast with smoke, visibility 5 miles in dense smoke. Winds calm.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Last evening buffeting SE winds lit up the ridge like a Christmas tree. We all thought that would be the end of the east ridge and then couldn't see anything because of the dense smoke.

The smoke cleared a bit to reveal most of the active fire had gone out or laid down considerably. The smokejumper told us later that it had rained for 15 minutes right over the fire. That made a huge difference.

This morning the east ridge is still smoldering and with some wind could spark right up. Rain would help.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 29.8, temperature 60 degrees. Ceiling 6000' overcast with thick smoke, visibility 4 miles with thick smoke. Slight north wind.

Iniakuk fire update: The fire finally topped out on the ridge and crossed over in several places. We watched the trees catch, explode, then the wind changed and the fire has cooled somewhat overnight. I am still seeing flareups. Whether the fire will slowly consume the east ridge remains to be seen. The scooper aircraft were on another fire last night. They might make it here today if they can see to fly.

Iniakuk Lake Weather, Brooks Range, Alaska

Barometer 30.1, temperature 56 degrees. Ceiling 6000' broken, visibility 8 miles with a thick smoke bank over the south end of Iniakuk Lake and the Alatna Hills. North winds at 3 knots.

Iniakuk Fire Update: Smokejumpers worked through the sweltering heat putting in fire breaks, laying down hose, sprinklers and pumps to protect the buildings. They called in the Fire Bosses last night to dump water on the fire and have requested they return today. These next few days will be pivotal.