VIDEO/PHOTOS: Anchorage Fire Department is preparing for what could be a spring and summer filled with wildfires across the state after South Central saw little snowfall this winter.“With a lack of snow and a lot of available fuel, dry grass, things they didn’t receive a lot of moisture. Unless there’s moisture that comes in, those fuels will continue to be dry,” Josh Leutzinger, with the Anchorage Fire Department, said. “Unless there’s moisture that comes in, those fuels will continue to be dry.” Those fuels could potentially start fires across the Anchorage Bowl.
On Tuesday, to prepare in case of that emergency, crew members participated in the department’s annual wildfire refresher training. They underwent a wildfire simulation in the department’s “Tiny Town,” which gives crew members a bird’s-eye view of the city. “We spend about 13 bucks. We made some land-made photos, aerial shots. We have yarn spread out. We have cardboard with pictures of houses and different words on them to steer people’s decision-making on the structures,” Leutzinger said. “All of this is meant to paint a picture for our responders, to what kind of variables they could encounter when they are responding to a scene like this.”
