WILLOW AREA COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION, INC.
WACO meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM at the Willow Community Center.
WACO Meetings
WACO Community Meeting
The first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM
Willow Community Center
Latest News
At the request of the Alaska Division of Forestry due to very high wildfire danger and the limited availability of firefighting resources in the state, the Alaska State Fire Marshal's office has suspended the use and sales of fireworks across much of the state effective immediately. The ban includes the following areas:
• Fairbanks North Star Borough
• Kenai Peninsula Borough
• Matanuska-Susitna Borough
• Kodiak Borough
• Copper River Valley, including Glennallen south to Valdez
• Western Alaska, including McGrath and points west
• Tanana Valley north of the Alaska Range
• Northern Panhandle, including Haines, Skagway and Juneau
As of Thursday morning, there were 102 uncontained fires burning in Alaska. There were 14 staffed fires with almost 1,100 personnel working to fight them. The hot, dry weather is expected to continue with high temperatures approaching 90 degrees Friday and Saturday. While rain is forecast for Sunday and Monday, the high pressure ridge that has been anchored over Alaska for the past week and a half is expected to build back in.
"I'm greatly concerned with the heightened fire danger," said State Fire Marshal Richard Boothby in a release announcing the ban. "Our firefighting resources and capabilities on the ground and in the air are stretched thin. That combined with the weather forecast going into next week, the safety of Alaskans and visitors is paramount. The suspension of the sale and use of fireworks will assist in protecting life and property."
The Division of Forestry asks that you please adhere to this suspension to help prevent any additional wildfires.
BURN SUPSENSIONS IN EFFECT TODAY, TUESDAY, JUNE 25 FOR FAIRBANKS, KENAI PENINSULA, MAT-SU VALLEY AND TOK due to high fire danger as a result of the hot, dry conditions. Open debris burning and the use of burn barrels is prohibited during a #burnsuspension. Small campfires under 3 feet in diameter are allowed but are not advised given the fire danger and weather conditions. Please be extremely careful with any activity that could spark a wildfire in these conditions. For more information about safe burning, go to www.forestry.alaska.gov/burn.
www.adn.com/alaska-news/weather/2019/06/25/wildfire-danger-increases-in-mat-su-and-fairbanks-and-...
Recognizing that Alaska’s firefighting resources are already committed to existing fires and that new lightning fires are expected, the Alaska Division of Forestry is asking people to use extra caution with anything that could start a wildfire. There were more than 6,000 lightning strikes recorded in Alaska on Friday (see map below) and 12 of the 15 new fires reported yesterday were the result of lightning strikes, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.
There is a Red Flag warning in effect today from noon to midnight for high lightning activity in the middle Tanana Valley and Deltana Flats. The strongest concentration of lightning is expected to be in the central/southern Interior between Fairbanks and Delta. Despite cloud cover, showers are expected to be isolated and vegetation will continue to be dry and receptive to ignition. This means that fires will continue to grow rapidly and be more resistant to control. To report new wildfires, call 911.
Today is the 4th anniversary of the Sockeye Fire, a wildfire that devastated our neighboring community of Willow with nearly 100 structures lost. Houston FD was the second department on location, and our crews were on that fire for weeks. Many of our current members are veterans of the fire.
We ask you to honor the anniversary by burning safely, or better yet by waiting until the fire danger level decreases. It is very dry out there, and beetle-killed trees are everywhere. It only takes one mistake to repeat the result.
