VIDEO: Agencies monitoring wildfires in Alaska have elevated the state to Preparedness Level 5 (PL5) , which is the highest level, as wildfire activity continues across the state. More than 500,000 acres have burned across Alaska this wildfire season so far. On Saturday, Alaska moved to PL5, the highest level in the Alaska Preparedness Plan. It means wildfires across the state require additional resources from collaborative partners from outside Alaska.
โThe preparedness levels are just indicators that include the number of personnel working, the amount of resources needed for fire response with our big incidents, as well as initial attack fires, are all kind of encompassed in this,โ Division of Forestry and Fire Protection Public Information Officer Emery Johnson said.
โItโs a prioritization, especially for resources sharing throughout the state. So with leveling up our preparedness level, we have become the priority due to a number of factors.โ She said the biggest fires of concern are the Himalaya Road Fire, the Nenana Ridge Complex and the Bear Creek Fire. โThe weekend was very hot and dry up here in the Interior where we have a lot of our priority fires going on.โ Johnson said. โSo, we saw increased fire activity, a lot of smoke being produced.โ
