This is the new reality, where a series of recent wildfires and the hottest day on record have sparked fears that a warming climate could translate into serious blazes like those in the rest of the American West.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets the ground.
The prospect of a major wildfire there keeps Anchorage Fire Chief Doug Schrage awake at night when conditions are hot and dry. The city also has limited wildfire equipment, and it’s nearly impossible to get a fire engine up some switchback roads to homes nestled high up mountains. That same small neighborhood with but one road in and out has also discussed installing sirens to warn residents on the city’s wooded fringes of fire danger and hopes to build a database of all residents for emergency communications.
Still, the U.S. is headed into an El Nino year this season, which traditionally means a bigger fire year and further raises concerns, said Brian Brettschneider, a climate scientist with National Weather Service, Alaska Region.
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