These are the things that keep fathers of adult children awake at night and our hair turning white.

Our daughter and grandsons visited with us for ten days. They went home to Alaska last week.

This morning they woke to this.

While all the news is reporting on the 5,000 acre Arizona wildfire or the San Diego fires last week (of similar size)

This is the Funny River Wildfire.

It started Monday when someone apparently did not properly douse a campfire.

By Monday afternoon it was 80 acres.

When my daughter called me Tuesday it was 7,000 acres.

By yesterday afternoon it was 22,000 acres.

And by 5 a.m. (E.D.T.) this morning it was 44,000+ acres. More than twice the size of Manhattan Island. Zero percent contained and they are actually not sure of it's size because the smoke is making it very difficult to map.

Residents of Soldotna and Kenai and Tyonek and Kasilof and Beluga are directly threatened by it depending on the winds. My daughter lives a scant 3 miles from it.  (Tyonek and Beluga are actually on the other side of the Cook Inlet and threatened by a different wildfire)

These towns have maybe a combined population of 5,000 in the winter. But in the summer it explodes to many tens of thousands for the hunting and salmon fishing among other things. (Soldotna: a quaint little drinking town with a fishing problem)

All of which is now currently at risk.

At the moment there have been no evacuations ordered. But the flames are 125 feet high. The smoke has a ceiling of 8,000 feet and is blanketing towns as far away as Homer 50 miles south bad enough that schools have to cancel outdoor recess. Residents advised to stay in if possible. They are flying in Canadian Water Bombers to help fight it.

They are concerned that this fire will start to make it's own weather. Winds. Tornadoes. Fire devils/whirls. etc.

Taken from the Kasilof Bridge, about 1-2 miles from my daughter & her family.

I just thought folks outside Alaska ought to know about this. It's obvious the media would rather report on the fires in the trendy tourist areas near Flagstaff and ignore those that affect a bunch of people who by nature and geography are fiercely independent. And whose property livelihoods and lives are no less threatened by the same thing as those in Flagstaff or San Diego.

Say a prayer and wish them some luck if you would.

 

 

video from Derrick Miskinnis