Alaska

Officials finish moving Western Alaska storm evacuees from Anchorage shelters into longer-term housing

Published

8 months ago

October 31, 2025

Officials finish moving Western Alaska storm evacuees from Anchorage shelters into longer-term housing

Operations Manager Brandon McKinney sets up cots at the Alaska Airlines Center on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025 in Anchorage. The facility had served as a mass shelter for Western Alaska residents displaced by ex-Typhoon Halong this month, but as of Friday, storm evacuees had been moved out of mass shelters in Anchorage and into longer-term housing. (Bill Roth / ADN)

All evacuees recently sent to mass shelters in Anchorage after a devastating Western Alaska storm forced them from their homes have been placed in longer-term, non-congregate housing, officials said Friday.

“This transition will help families as they continue to put their lives back together,” said Bryan Fisher, director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, in a statement.

Earlier in October, ex-Typhoon Halong displaced scores of residents from their Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities after the storm’s powerful winds and flooding severely damaged or destroyed homes and infrastructure across the region.

A mass evacuation effort resulted in more than 650 people arriving in Anchorage in the storm’s wake, with many ending up in mass shelters at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center and Egan Civic and Convention Center while officials looked for more suitable long-term shelter situations.

On Friday, the State Emergency Operations Center said it had finished moving all evacuees — 379 people in total — who had been staying at Anchorage’s two mass shelters into hotels and closed the spaces.

Evacuees who had been sheltering in Bethel have also been placed in non-congregate housing, the State Emergency Operations Center said in a separate Friday statement.

Some shelters will remain in “standby status for the coming days” to accept potential evacuees before placement into non-congregate settings, according to the State Emergency Operations Center.

Officials started moving hundreds of evacuees from congregate shelter spaces in Anchorage into longer-term housing earlier this week while in Western Alaska, crews raced to clean up and winterize communities, or conduct basic repairs in villages, so displaced residents can start returning home.

It’s unclear how long evacuees will remain in the long-term shelters, said Vivian Korthuis, CEO of the Association of Village Council Presidents.

“It’s very stressful right now, but in the long run, things will work out, and we just need to keep on moving forward,” she said.

AVCP, a regional nonprofit that supports and advocates for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s 56 tribes, held a media briefing Friday afternoon to detail its current relief work in affected communities and long-term disaster response priorities.

The organization, alongside others like the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., Alaska Organized Militia and Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection, has been working to make homes and communities livable since officials wrapped up mass evacuations.

“These relief efforts are not a short-term thing,” said AVCP spokesperson Dendra Chavez. “This is going to be a long-term effort that we’re all working on.”

While work continues in villages for displaced residents to return, officials said they will continue to help evacuees who have moved into longer-term shelter housing in Anchorage access disaster recovery services and financial assistance.

Other resources, like a Midtown Anchorage disaster resource assistance center, will also remain open, Fisher said in a statement.

“We will continue to work with organizations providing services to storm survivors to ensure their needs are met,” he said.

As of Friday, 1,177 people affected by the storm had applied for state disaster recovery aid, while more than 320 had applied for individual federal aid unlocked by President Donald Trump’s Oct. 22 federal disaster declaration, according to a State Emergency Operations Center statement.

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Alaska

Crews continue making progress on Delta Fires

Published

5 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

Crews continue making progress on Delta Fires

By Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection on June 24, 2026

A White Mountain Crewmember feels for any remaining heat along the Rapeseed Fire (#275) outside of Delta Junction on June 24 2026. Photo/ Sam Porter

#222 Granite Fire– The Clackamas Crew joined the Southwest Type 1 Crew and TCC Squad A on the Granite Fire today. The fire is now 85% contained.
A thermal detection drone was flown over the fire to identify any remaining heat. A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place and will continue tomorrow, meaning aircraft and drones that are not supporting firefighting operations are prohibited from flying over or near the incident.
Crews are also checking windrows for remaining heat. Windrows are rows of trees left standing to reduce wind erosion on farmland. Firefighters will pile and burn dead or downed trees, as well as hazard trees with burned roots.

#257 Barley 2 Fire– All personnel have been demobilized from the Barley 2 Fire after it was declared contained and controlled. The fire will remain in monitor status. This will be the last update for this fire unless significant changes occur.

#268 Moosehead Fire– A boat is transporting TCC Squad C to the Moosehead Fire, where they are gridding the interior and checking for any remaining heat.

#275 Rapeseed Fire- The Rapeseed Fire is 80% contained. The White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack Crew is constructing sawline and cold trailing the fire’s edge to locate and extinguish any remaining heat.
A Nodwell continues to provide an effective way to transport personnel, equipment, supplies, and water through the remote, sensitive terrain while supporting suppression efforts.

#223 Pogo and #226 Shaw Fires continue to be in monitor status.

‹ More Firefighters Heading to Ambler for Jade Fire

Categories: Active Wildland Fire, Alaska DNR – Division of Forestry & Fire Protection (DFFP)

Tags: #FireYear2026 #2026AKFIRESEASON, 2026 Alaska Fire Season, Delta, Granite Fire, Moosehead Fire, Pogo Fire, Rapeseed Fire, Shaw Fire

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Alaska

Characteristics of Leadership: Recklessness – Alaska Business Magazine

Published

15 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

Characteristics of Leadership: Recklessness – Alaska Business Magazine

Picture it: an 800-mile engineering marvel traversing Alaska’s rugged wilderness. An immense zinc mine powering Northwest Alaska’s economy. World-class sustainable harvests feeding global markets with seafood.

The Trans Alaska Pipeline System, Red Dog mine, and the Alaska fishing industry: These massive ventures represent high-stakes investments in infrastructure and resources that have transformed Alaska into a powerhouse of global energy, minerals, and food. Today, we call these ventures inspired, but that label masks a fundamental nuance and common misconception: there is a distinction between the risky and the reckless.

That line between bold visionary and reckless gambler is usually written in ink only after the dust settles and the checks clear. Winners are often labeled as geniuses while thousands of leaders who made similar bets but went bust are ignored. When you see any winner in the marketplace, their strategy can look like a guaranteed blueprint for success. This is survivorship bias in action, obsessing over the front-runners while ignoring the graveyard of those who made the same choices. Recklessness is a classic leadership trap, in part, because it is very easy to mistake good luck for repeatable strategy. Our brains are wired to find patterns in chaos, even when they don’t exist, and when a gamble pays off, it is easy to invent a story to explain why it worked. This explains, in part, why high-risk behavior is often rebranded as “visionary” in the business world.

Understanding the mechanics of recklessness can help a leader spot the difference between a smart move and a predictable bad one. It is the contrast between a high-wire artist using a safety net and having practiced the route, versus one who just hopes they don’t fall. The first one is making calculated moves, and the second is wishing for the best.

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Alaska

Smokejumpers, aircraft responding to new fire near Ambler

Published

1 day ago

June 24, 2026

Press Room

Smokejumpers, aircraft responding to new fire near Ambler

By U.S. Wildland Fire Service on June 23, 2026

Smoke from the Jade Fire (#285) to west of Ambler as shown on this FAA Weather Camera at 5 p.m. on June 23, 2026.

9:50 p.m. Update, June 23, 2026: Another load of 12 smokejumpers is en route to join the 11 already working on the Jade Fire (#285), which is burning about 3 miles west of Ambler and west of the Kopshesut Fire. Two single‑engine water scoopers — highly effective in calming the Kopshesut Fire in its early days — along with personnel aboard an air attack platform, are working the incident. The air attack platform is used to coordinate airspace and relay information between aircraft and firefighters on the ground.

The larger multi‑engine water scoopers were requested but were unable to respond due to weather at Ladd Airfield on Fort Wainwright.

At about 8:42 p.m., the fire was reported at 10 acres and was torching and active on all sides. It was burning toward the Kopshesut Fire, which stands between it and Ambler

Use this link for an interactive map to zoom in and out for a closer look at the location of the fire: https://arcg.is/1XLmHm8

8:45 p.m., June 23, 2026: U.S. Wildland Fire Service contracted aircraft and smokejumpers are en route to Ambler after receiving reports of a new fire near the Kobuk River community.

Numberous reports from locals reporting the fire is west of the Kopeshusut Fire (#137) that escaped from the landfill June 4 and threatened the community before being contained last week.

More information will be released when it’s available.

Contact U.S. Wildland Fire Service Public Affairs Specialist Beth Ipsen at elizabeth_ipsen@ios.doi.gov or (907)388-2159 for more information.