Denali National Park has closed to visitors due to the rapidly spreading Riley Fire near its entrance, prompting evacuations and a significant firefighting response.
A fast-moving wildfire near Elliot Highway in Fairbanks, Alaska, has led to a Level 3 evacuation order for residents, with the fire rapidly growing to over a thousand acres.
There were 4,500 lightning strikes in Alaska Tuesday — the latest in a run of days with thousands of ground strikes. There were also another 13 new, primarily lightning sparked wildfires in the state Tuesday, mostly in the Interior. The lightning storms have coincided with very dry conditions.
The wildfires can burrow into rich organic material, such as the vast peatlands that ring the Arctic, and smolder under the snowpack throughout the frigid winter.
Fairbanks' May 10 temperature was two degrees below the daily record, while snow melt from an above-normal year is flooding Interior rivers.
Smoke and soot from central Alaska wildfires have afflicted the subarctic city of Fairbanks with some of the world's worst air pollution in recent days, forcing many residents indoors and prompting one hospital to set up a "clean air shelter."
As of Monday morning, the fire 3 miles north of Murphy Dome was estimated at 650 acres. About 146 personnel working to contain the fire, which was started by lightning on Friday.
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