[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14548-14549]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       INTERIOR ALASKA WILDFIRES

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, 10 years ago, on July 6, 1994, fourteen 
wildland firefighters lost their lives fighting the deadly South Canyon 
Fire near Glenwood Springs, CO. Nine of the 13 who perished were 
members of a single crew--a hotshot crew based in the small high desert 
town of Prineville in central Oregon. The ``Prineville Nine,'' as they 
have come to be called, were all in their 20s.
  The events of July 6, 1994 were as significant to the wildland fire 
community as the events of September 11, 2001 were to the New York City 
Fire Department, and the brave young men and women who perished in the 
South Canyon Fire were every bit as heroic as those who perished at the 
World Trade Center.
  The anniversary of the South Canyon Fire brings home to all who live 
in the West how dearly we hold the brave young men and women, clad in 
their fire resistant yellow shirts, green pants and helmets, who fight 
the fires that sweep through our backyards.
  On Monday, July 5, I had the privilege to visit a fire camp near 
Fairbanks, AK. The young men and women based at the camp were fighting 
the Boundary Fire, which is burning to the North of Fairbanks, under 
the experienced leadership of Steve Hart and his Type I Incident 
Management Team, drawn from the Rocky Mountain region of our Nation.
  In the course of my visit, I had the opportunity to meet with each of 
the leaders on the Incident Command Team and received detailed 
briefings on how the fire was being managed.
  One of those briefings was delivered by the Incident Safety Officer, 
who emphasized the acronym L-C-E-S, which stands for lookouts, 
communications, escape routes, and safety zones. Wildland firefighters 
are taught to keep safety in their forefront of their minds, constantly 
focusing on L-C-E-S. On the Boundary Fire, the singular focus on safety 
is evident throughout the camp. It is clear that the lessons of the 
South Canyon Fire have not been lost to history.
  Today there are 73 wildland fires burning in the State of Alaska and 
some 1,544 wildland firefighters from 26 states and one province of 
Canada are on the ground tirelessly addressing

[[Page 14549]]

these fires. Since the beginning of this year's fire season, 
approximately 2 million acres have burned in Alaska. Most of these 
acres have burned in seven large fires and ``fire complexes'' which 
occurred in the last few weeks.
  As of the last report that I received, the Boundary Fire is 27 
percent contained. Two other incidents are five percent contained and 
the remaining four are zero percent contained. New fires can start on a 
moment's notice from a strike of lightening and, depending on the fuel; 
wind shifts can move existing fires at rates of over 2 miles per hour.
  In fact, a new fire was just reported yesterday, near the villages of 
Bettles and Evansville. At 5:00 PM, when the fire was reported, it had 
burned one acre, one hour later it was reported at 500 acres and at 
10:00 PM it was reported at 1500 acres.
  Last week was an exceptionally difficult one for the people of 
Interior Alaska. In Fairbanks, a dark, smoky haze hung over the 
community. The Boundary Fire was burning about 30 miles to the north of 
Fairbanks between the Steese and Elliott Highways, while the Wolf Creek 
Fire was burning to the east, near Chena Hot Springs Road.
  These fires caused the evacuation of more than 280 households and 
countless animals, including household pets, sled dogs, cows, pigs and 
llamas. While volunteers from the Tanana Valley Chapter of the American 
Red Cross were offering shelter, food and respite from the smoke to the 
people of Fairbanks, officers from the Fairbanks North Star Borough's 
Division of Animal Control and numerous volunteers were making sure 
that the displaced animals were being well cared for.
  Miraculously, only seven structures, to date, have been lost in the 
spate of these wildfires with no loss of life. Thanks to the hard work 
of firefighters through the Independence Day weekend, the people 
uprooted by the Boundary Fire are returning home today.
  Although the Boundary and Wolf Creek fires were the subject of 
attention in the national media because of their proximity to urban 
areas, we must not forget that the fires are also threatening bush 
villages in rural Alaska. The Pingo Fire has burned to within one and 
one half miles of the town of Venetie and wildfires continue to 
threaten habitat that is important to the subsistence lifestyle 
practiced in the village.
  The people of Eagle on the Canadian border have been challenged by 
two fires, one burning west from Dawson City in the Yukon Territory. 
The safety of these communities, as well as Bettles, Chicken, 
Evansville, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village and Tok are on our minds today.
  The proximity of wildfires to the outskirts of our urban areas 
reminds us all to be firewise. Building defensible space around 
structures not only increases the likelihood that a building will 
survive a fire; it also increases resident and firefighter safety. 
Alaskans are also being encouraged this week to store their firewood 
away from structures and to use metal or fire resistant roofing 
materials in construction. I support these important safety 
initiatives.
  I also continue to support the important fuels reduction provisions 
of the President's Healthy Forest Initiative, and will continue to work 
to ensure that adequate resources are made available by Congress to our 
Nation's fire fighting crews.
  Fairbanks is known as the ``Golden Heart City,'' so let me say that 
our golden hearts go out to the thirty seven Alaska Native firefighting 
crews that are protecting Fairbanks as well as our villages, the Alaska 
firefighters on mutual aid assignments to fight the wildfires, and 
members of the national wildland fire community who have been 
dispatched to Alaska to help us get through this difficult fire season. 
I am deeply grateful to all in the wildland firefighter community for 
their tremendous sacrifices and commitment to making all of our 
communities safe.

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