ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A 90-mile stretch of the Taylor Highway remained closed Friday because of wildfires, but about half of the 150 people that had been stranded in Chicken were allowed to leave under escort overnight.
The highway was closed on both sides of the old mining community, blocking residents, seasonal miners and travelers, fire officials said.
``It is a very dangerous situation right now,'' said fire dispatcher Gene Burke in Tok. He said the fire was on both sides of the highway.
About 40 vehicles were led in a convoy to Tok, about 70 miles to the southwest, early Friday, said Kevin Koechlein, fire information officer for the state Division of Forestry.
A second convoy carrying fuel, food, water and other supplies was headed back to Chicken and possibly up the highway another 94 miles to Eagle, a town of 126 near the Canada border, he said.
``The road is officially closed. The only thing being allowed on the road is critical, essential services for the fire and the community _ no tour buses, no nonresidents, no tourists,'' Koechlein said.
Fire managers hoped to bring another 40 or so vehicles out in the early morning hours Saturday when fire activity is usually diminished by cooler temperatures and higher humidity.
Three fires - fueled by hot dry weather and light winds - prompted the closure Thursday from the Tetlin Junction to about mile 90, a few miles from the Eagle turnoff.
The north flank of the 33,000-acre Chicken fire was about one mile south of Chicken.
``We're making progress, burning out (fuels) alongside the road, trying to make it safe,'' Koechlein said.
There are no land phone lines in Chicken, an unincorporated town of 21, so details were limited to occasional radio transmissions from fire crews.
``There's no information that the community is in danger at this time,'' said Craig McCaa, another fire information officer in Tok.
The Chicken fire was sparked June 15 by two lightning strikes.
Closer to Tok, the Porcupine fire had burned at least 16,000 acres.
``The problem with that fire is it keeps crossing the lower portion of the Taylor Highway,'' Koechlein said.
Crews have managed to slow the spread of the fire with burnout operations.
The Wall Street fire, about six miles east of Chicken, also was growing but the number of acres burned was not available because it's too smoky to map. Estimates were anywhere from 2,000 acres to 20,000 acres.
``That's one of the ones of concern. It's very steep with a lot of heavy timber. You have to be real careful up there,'' Koechlein said.
The highway closure affected travel businesses in Eagle. Marlys House, who owns a small bed and breakfast, said scheduled guests were calling to cancel. Instead she was letting her five rooms out to fire support crews, who weren't able to escape the fire's effects even off the job.
Altogether, 53 fires were active across the state Thursday. Crews were fighting 11 of the fires, while the rest were being monitored, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.
So far this year, 298 fires statewide have burned at least 350,654 acres, fire officials said.
Three of the staffed fires were in the Solstice complex in northeast Alaska. Two other fires in the area were declared out and two others were being monitored, said fire information officer Tom Kempton.
As of Friday, 11 of the 16 fires in the Solstice complex had been put out. The total acreage for the Solstice fires was 125,000 acres, about a 14,000-acre gain over Thursday.
Crews were doing mop-up on the Sucker Lake fire, Kempton said. He hoped to bring three more crews to area, bringing the total to six fire crews and three Hotshot teams.
The two biggest blazes were the Pingo and Winter Trail fires. By the latest information, the Winter Trail fire had burned 48,000 acres and the Pingo fire had burned 76,500 acres.
Crews concentrated Thursday on clearing a 50-foot-wide fire break to protect the village of Venetie, about 10 miles south of the Pingo fire. Kempton said crews made good progress, completing about 3 miles of fire line. The work was to continue Friday.
He said an expected wind shift likely would bring more smoke into the Fairbanks and Fort Yukon areas.
``If we get a wind shift it probably will be more smoky south of the fire,'' Kempton said.
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