It’s a sure sign of wildfire season in Interior Alaska – the first coal seam fire of the year near Healy.
The Fairbanks Area Forestry station responded to the report of a wildfire off Healy Creek Spur Road near the community of Healy on Thursday night that appears to be a coal seam fire. The 4-acre fire, named the French Gulch Coal Seam Fire 2021, did not pose a threat and is in the same area where numerous coal seam fires have sprung up in past years.
The fire was reported by a local resident at around 8 p.m. It was located approximately 8 miles east of the Parks Highway and about one-quarter mile south of Healy Spur Road.