Single Publication

 Bean Complex Wildfire Fact Sheet

Saturday, July 30, 2022 at 10:30 a.m.

Warm and sunny weather conditions dominated the region again on Friday, allowing for continued helicopter and motorboat hauling work. No measurable amounts of rain were recorded over the fire area over the past 24 hours, yet fire activity remained smoldering and minimal. Warm and dry conditions will continue this weekend, with a chance of isolated rain showers on Sunday. Subsurface hotspots remained scattered and are expected to continue to smolder until larger amounts of rain extinguish the fires. This short drying trend is not anticipated to facilitate active fire growth since there is a chance for rain on Monday night and into Tuesday.

For the past two weeks an Incident Meteorologist from Anchorage has been assigned to the Bean Complex. Incident Meteorologists are National Weather Service employees who have specialized fire weather training and experience. This position is vital to helping forecast current and future fire activity. Yesterday, July 29 was the 94th anniversary of Meteorologists being assigned to support wildfire suppression efforts, and it has been a critical partnership. The forecasts for the Bean Complex have been very beneficial and highly accurate allowing operations and logistics personnel to effectively plan for the complex movements of people, equipment, and supplies. Long range weather trends and forecasts have also been examined in consultation with other specialists and continue to predict a southwest flow aloft, which will bring regular chances of rain.

The seven fires total 197,174 acres with 126 people assigned. The slight increase in size is due to more accurate mapping. Firefighters are camped remotely near the larger fires as they work on hauling out suppression equipment and supplies.

The Tanana River Fire (#310), is 14 miles southeast of Manley Hot Springs and north of the Tanana River. Firefighters are disassembling fire protection equipment and preparing it to be removed from the Deadman’s Lake area. The fire is 25,202 acres in size.

The Bitzshitini Fire (#312), is 23 miles southwest of Manley Hot Springs and south of the Tanana River. It is unstaffed and in monitor status. The fire is 71,219 acres in size.

The Chitinana Fire (#315), south of the Tanana River about 21 miles southeast of Tanana and 20 miles southwest of Manley Hot Springs, is 100,233 acres in size. Crews are working to remove water pump site equipment from three different locations on the fire.

The Hutlinana Fire (#327), is located north of the Tanana River roughly 10 miles east of Manley Hot Springs and is 407 acres. It is unstaffed and in monitor status.

The Rock Fire (#557), is located 6 miles north of Eureka and is 1 acre. It is unstaffed and in monitor status.

The Elephant Fire (#561), is located 6 miles northeast of Eureka and is 110 acres. It is unstaffed and in monitor status.

The Cosna Bluff Fire (#564), is located 19 miles southwest of Manley Hot Springs and is 2 acres. It is unstaffed and in monitor status.