This video of the #SockeyeFire was made at Mile 75 of the Parks Highway earlier this evening. The fire is actively burning on both sides of the highway.
Posted by Alaska DNR- Division of Forestry (DOF) on Sunday, June 14, 2015
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 15 (UPI) -- At least 10 firefighter hotshot crews from several states are moving to help battle a fire in Alaska that has put emergency crews on the defensive.
Called the Sockeye Fire, it has grown to an estimated 6,500 acres north of the town of Willow, about 80 miles from Anchorage. It was first reported as a two-acre fire at 1:15 p.m. Sunday.
"Evacuation notices have been delivered to residences from Mile 72 to 77 and evacuations are still in progress," the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry said in a statement. "At least 20 homes had been evacuated and that number is expected to grow as the fire size increases."
More than 210 residents have been evacuated. The Parks Highway is open on a limited basis near the fire.
"The fire is burning extremely intense and firefighters have switched from an offensive to defensive strategy and are focusing on structure and point protection while aircraft continue to drop retardant and water on the fire," the Division of Forestry said.
Multiple aircraft, including three Blackhawk helicopters from the Alaska Air National Guard, have been used to help.
The fire is believed to have been caused by humans.
"It's moving pretty fast, and we're throwing pretty much everything we have at it," Forestry Division spokesman Tim Mowry told NBC station KTUU of Anchorage.
