Alaska wildfires: Evacuation orders after high winds spark blazes
TALKEETNA, Alaska — Pilot cars began shepherding motorists through a previously-closed stretch of Alaska’s George Parks Highway for several hours Saturday after an unusual combination of high winds and dry weather sparked six blazes in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
"Firefighters continue to work furiously to contain two wildfires burning about 20 miles apart on the opposite side of the Parks Highway, one of which temporarily closed the highway between mileposts 88 to 93," the Alaska Division of Forestry said in a release.
An air tanker, a five-person task force of firefighters from Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson and a five-member task force from the Anchorage Fire Department and three more crews would join the late-night effort, according to officials.
More than 20 evacuees had arrived at the Red Cross shelter by 9 p.m. Saturday after the McKinley Fire sparked mandatory evacuations along five miles of the rural highway. The blaze burned about half a mile east of the highway near Mile 91.
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