©Dec 2001, BCVFD
Design by member
Jilian Campbell

On June 15, the US Forest Service initiated a prescribed burn of 1,100 acres on the North Shore of Kenai Lake, about 5 miles from Moose Pass.
June had been a hot and dry month, but rain was in the forecast.  The forecast was wrong - temperatures continued to reach into the 70s and 80s and wind picked up, causing the fire to spread.  By the time it was declared a wildland fire, the blaze had grown to 2,700 acres.

On June 25, the burn was officially declared a wildland fire.  Bear Creek, Seward, Moose Pass, Cooper Landing, Homer, and a dozen other departments around Alaska were requested to send apparatus and personnel for structural protection over the next several days.

Bear Creek sent a total of 15 members, a brush rig, and a tanker over the next four days.  Volunteers from all over the state worked together to provide water and protection for homes in danger of the spreading fire.

The Forest Service ordered five helicopters with water buckets and an fixed wing air tanker to help contain the fire in the area.
The wildland fire was officially contained on June 30.

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