By Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection on July 8, 2024

Southern Alaska continued to experience cloudy, wet, and rainy weather on Sunday, further reducing fire activity with no new fires reported across the entire state. As fire danger moderates across the state, all burn permit suspensions have been lifted statewide. This allows residents to conduct small debris burns, utilize burn barrels, and complete small lawn burns with a valid burn permit. More information about the DOF Burn Permit program and current suspensions can be found at DOF Burn Permit Program.

This report covers fires occurring in the Division of Alaska Forestry & Fire Protection’s coastal protection area, generally south of the Alaska Range. This includes the DOF protection areas of Southwest, Anchorage Mat-Su, Kenai-Kodiak, and Copper River. 

Pictured here is the Gannett Glacier fire crew taking advantage of the break in fire activity by training in medical simulations.

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The crew is taking advantage of recent rainy weather to practice medical simulations on the Montana Creek Fire. These medical simulations and exercises help ensure the firefighters are prepared to handle a variety of emergency medical situations they may encounter on the fire line.

‹ Firefighters continue to make progress toward objectives and demobilize across DOF’s Northern Region 

Categories: Alaska DNR – Division of Forestry (DOF)

Tags: 2024 Alaska Fire Season, AKDOF, Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection, DOF Coastal Region, Kenai-Kodiak Area Forestry, Mat-Su Area Forestry

A 21-year-old fisherman died after his gear dragged him into the water in Southwest Alaska, officials said.

Commercial fishing crewmember Corwin Wheeler fell from the boat in Kvichak Bay Friday, while fishing salmon.

A mayday call reported him overboard at 12:31 pm, spurring a rescue operation.

The bay has some of the highest tides in the world, and the operation was ultimately unsuccessful. 

Officials said Wheeler first became tangled in his fishing gear, before being pulled overboard and into the water. Tributes have since poured in for the young angler, headed by his father.

‘On 07/05/2024 at approximately 1231 hours, DPS Patrol Vessel Stimson received a MAYDAY call from a commercial salmon fisherman in Kvichak Bay stating he lost a crewman over the side of his vessel,’ the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

‘AWT [Alaska Wildlife Troops] responded to the area with two patrol skiffs and arrived just as the reporting vessel had located and retrieved their unconscious crewmember out of the water. 

‘AWT performed lifesaving measures for approximately one hour prior to pronouncing the crewman deceased. 

‘Investigation revealed [he] had become entangled in fishing gear and was pulled overboard and underwater. 

‘Next of kin has been notified.’

The boy’s father posted to Facebook a day later, revealing how Corwin had been an only child.

‘I loved him more than anything else in the world,’ Jeff Rowe, of Illinois, wrote Saturday. 

‘I pray he knows that, and I hope he has found peace. More info will be posted when it’s available.’

A subsequent rescue proved unsuccessful. Corwin lived in Madison and was born in Salem, his social media shows. He was an only child

Photos show him happily working the Bering Sea, as a salmon fishermen for Alaskan Leader Fisheries

The bay has some of the highest tides in the world, which proved fatal for the young fisherman. It is located about 435 miles southwest of Anchorage

According to his social media, Corwin lived in Madison, and was born in Salem.

Photos show him happily working the Bering Sea, as a salmon fishermen for Alaskan Leader Fisheries.

The company is one of the largest fishing companies in Alaska, and own four super long-liners that operate year-round, according to its website.

It bill itself as one of ‘the most progressive, innovative and vertically integrated “Hook & Line“ fishing compan[ies] in Alaska,’ meaning fisherman fish by means of a series of baited hooks.

Corwin worked on one of three fishing vessels, the F/V Alaskan Leader, F/V Bristol Leader and the F/V Bering Leader.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the company for comment, as investigators confirm Corwin accidentally became entangled in his gear.

A caller then told troopers the deckhand went over the side of the commercial fishing vessel before being sucked underneath, upon which he inhaled a fatal amount of water.

Corwin – seen here gripping a grouper – worked on one of three fishing vessels, the F/V Alaskan Leader, F/V Bristol Leader and the F/V Bering Leader

The bay where Corwin has been working was also particularly well known for its inherent dangers. It can be found on the upper reaches of the bay, which is one of the most dangerous regions in the world for large vessels

The dangers of working the Bering Sea are well known – with trawlers by and large painting it as one of the coldest and most dangerous seas across the globe.

It is one of the most dangerous places to fish in the world. Decorated commercial fisherman Corey Arnold has called the sea ‘a continuous storm.’

The bay where Corwin has been working was also particularly well known for its inherent dangers. 

It can be found on the northeast side of Bristol Bay, near King Salmon.

More specifically, it can be found on the upper reaches of the bay, which experience some of the highest tides in the world. 

In some parts, tidal extremes in excess of 30 feet have been measured, the eighth highest in the world. 

Coupled with an outsized amount of shoals, unseen sandbars, and shallows, this makes navigation troublesome, especially amid frequently strong winds. 

It is also the shallowest part of the Bering Sea, making it one of the most dangerous regions for large vessels. 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a nationwide opioid settlement involving Purdue Pharma, in a narrow vote of 5 to 4, an Alaskan mother is speaking out about the decision. Sandy Snodgrass lost her 22-year-old son, Bruce Snodgrass, to fentanyl poisoning in October 2021. Since then, she has been fighting Alaska’s opioid crisis and hoping to bring awareness on impacts of taking the illicit drugs.

In late June, Supreme Court justices ruled against a bankruptcy settlement for Purdue Pharma, valued at roughly 6 billion dollars, which manufactures the painkiller OxyContin. Others involved in the court case include roughly 60,000 family members who lost loved ones to opioids, particularly OxyContin, who sued Purdue Pharma.

Snodgrass was happy with the Supreme Court’s ruling, as she believes the settlement would have shielded Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.

“It got watered down over the years that it ended up to become only 6 billion and the shield that would protect them forever from any future litigation,” Snodgrass said. “So the families were not supportive of that lawsuit any longer and we’re very, very grateful and pleased that the lawsuit was rejected from the Supreme Court.”

She believes in the beginning the lawsuit was good, but became less powerful the years which caused her to lose support for it.

“The $6 billion on the surface, sounds like a lot of money, it is a lot of money,” Snodgrass said. “But when we look at the devastation that millions and millions of people were effected by OxyContin, $6 billion is nothing.”

Snodgrass says her son Bruce was prescribed OxyContin, when he got his wisdom teeth out at 17 years old, which she believes led him to becoming involved with drugs and eventually led to his death. She holds the Sackler family culpable for the fentanyl crisis the nation is in today.

“I administered those pills to my son,” Snodgrass said. “I believe that started the train wreck of his life and my life and his ultimate poisoning by fentanyl, because of that OxyContin.”

Snodgrass feels the amount of money is insulting, especially from a large company like Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. She knows some families were ready to receive money from the settlement, but for her it was not enough.

Snodgrass says she and other families who have lost loved ones want to see the Sackler family members involved with Purdue Pharma and OxyContin go to prison. If that doesn’t happen, she emphasized there will likely be lawsuits coming forward, where Purdue Pharma will be paying much more than the $6 billion.

“If the DOJ or the Department of Justice does not imprison the Sacklers, we want every single dime that they ever made to go towards the families and go towards prevention and go towards treatment,” Snodgrass said.

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