KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Nearly half of Caribou Hills fire contained

Nearly half of Caribou Hills fire contained

by Rebecca Palsha
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

NINILCHIK, Alaska -- Things are looking good at the Caribou Hills wildfire near Ninilchik, where fire officials report the blaze that burned 88 cabins is roughly 43 percent contained.

Tonight, cabin owners will be allowed back into the area for the first time to see for themselves what their property looks like.

The fire now resembles miles and miles of black ash, an occasional smoke plume and a few green patches with cabins.

Fire information officer Gary Lehnhausen said some homeowners can breathe safely now.

"If their cabin is standing today, I imagine they're safe," Lehnhausen said.

Gigi Zoubeck said she is ready for life to get back to normal. Armed with buckets of water, she has been working to protect her home since Tuesday night.

"I was afraid of the smoke. It was really bad for like a day and a half," Zoubeck said.

Tonight the rest of the neighborhood will be returning as well.

Lehnhausen said crews used recent wet weather to their advantage.

"Some of the most troublesome areas are pretty well contained now. I'm not saying the whole fire is contained, but the areas that we've been worried about we've had three or four good days of progress on those and we're feeling pretty good about those areas -- the southwest flank mainly," Lehnhausen said.

The fire is not out, but Lehnhausen is feeling confident.

"I expect with this nicer weather and a little bit of a light breeze, there may be a little smoke poofing up here or there, but I don't expect the fire to get any bigger today," Lehnhausen said.

Starting at 7 p.m. tonight, people will be able to return to the area until around 7 a.m. tomorrow.

So far it has cost $1.8 million to fight the fire. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded grants that would pay about 75 percent of the emergency responder costs.

Contact Rebecca Palsha at rpalsha@ktuu.com