VIDEO: A recently burned forest, once the site of a threatening fire, has been given a new purpose; serving as an educational tool, known as the Wildfire Walk.
In 2021, homes near Yankovich Road were faced with the threat of flames as a fire sparked hundreds of yards away, on University property. Years later, the reminder of what could have been holds more than memories as a new tool to inform the public about wildfires and the risk they pose to property.
Allison York, the coordinator for the Alaska Fire Consortium at UA, also said that it’s important for folks to come out and learn for their own safety. “Most Alaskans probably live in a forest that burns and may not even realize it,” Miller explained. “Right around Fairbanks and what we call the wildland-urban interface, it’s all a critical fire management option, so if there’s an ignition in neighborhoods, it gets all the resources right away.”