Denali National Park plans to reopen Wednesday as wildfire disruptions start easing

Denali National Park and Preserve is planning to welcome visitors again starting Wednesday, officials said as firefighting crews — aided by cooler, wetter conditions — worked Saturday to increase containment of the Riley Fire near the park’s entrance.

The wildfire disrupted Denali operations for a seventh straight day Saturday and had upended plans for thousands of tourists.

But the progress that crews have made on the 388-acre fire, which fire officials report is now at 25% containment, has eased some of the most pressing threats and allowed officials to lift some precautionary measures. On Saturday evening, residents of the park’s campus housing who’d been told to evacuate could start returning to their homes, according to park officials.

Denali National Park will remain closed to visitors through Tuesday, but they’ll be allowed back starting at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, park officials said in a statement.

Normal operations will largely pick up again, including the opening of the Denali Visitor Center, tour and transit bus access deeper into the park, and dog sled demonstrations. However, the Horseshoe Lake Trail and the Riley Creek Campground and Day Use Area “will remain closed due to ongoing firefighting and support activities in the area,” park officials said.

“We appreciate the hard work of the firefighters to reduce the fire threat to park facilities,” Denali National Park superintendent Brooke Merrell said in the statement, adding: “The support and cooperation with our community partners through this challenging incident has been amazing.”

Power was restored on a full-time basis starting Thursday at the park and the nearby Glitter Gulch tourist area that’s home to hotels, restaurants and shops, after it was shut down earlier in the week.

“Our ongoing goal, while providing for safety, is to facilitate a return to normal conditions for residents and visitors,” said Al Nash, a spokesman with the wildfire incident response team, on Friday.

Getting back to normal

Many businesses are opening in Glitter Gulch, also known as the Nenana River Canyon, now that electricity has been restored.

Chris Noel, mayor of the Denali Borough, said Friday that some hotels were just beginning to accepts guests again. Overall, hotels could return to 90% of their normal occupancy this weekend, he said.

He said hotels should remain alert to the possible need for evacuation of their guests in case the fire unexpectedly takes a turn for the worse.

“Our message to hoteliers has been we understand they want to get back to normal, and we want that and we want the park to open, but we want to do that in a safe manner, protecting the safety of firefighters and the public,” he said.

Becki Klauss, owner of The Black Bear in Glitter Gulch, said business was back to normal at the coffeehouse, bakery and restaurant.

But the town is still recovering, she said.

Klauss said it’s been a “precarious few days” unlike any she’s seen in the area.

Most businesses were shut down for the week. Tourists milled about with little to do. People were grateful to buy even leftover cold coffee and pastries, since there weren’t other options, she said.

Many tourists left the area for nearby communities such as Healy where power wasn’t shut off, she said.

“The Fourth of July weekend is our busiest week of the entire year, and this is the time we all build up to,” she said. “And instead of rallying hard, we had to shut down. So there’s lost business, lost wages, but there’s an exceptional sense of gratitude and community.”

With the power out for several days, she and her crew prepared and delivered a few hundred meals to firefighters, she said. The fire crews hadn’t been able to shower and were eating military-style MREs, or meals ready-to-eat, she said.

“It was really cool to connect with them and just relay how grateful we are for them,” she said.

Other residents and businesses from the area also pitched in to help get food to the fire crews, she said. Some businesses and even tourists also gave her money to cover the costs of the donated food, she said.

“It’s been a unifying time for people even with all the tragedy that it has been,” Klauss said.

Vanessa Jusczak, president of the Denali Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is letting people know that tourist activities outside the park are in full swing.

People can go on other hikes outside the park, and participate in other activities such as ATV or horseback rides, dog-kennel visits, whitewater rafting, sportfishing or ziplining. Flightseeing trips, including those focused on viewing Denali — the mountain — far from the fire, are also still operating, she said.

“We’re trying to get out there that while park is closed, the rest of Denali is open to business,” she said.

Fire size holds steady

The fire on Saturday held steady at 388 acres, according to agencies involved in the response. That was the same acreage from Thursday and Friday, reflecting the equivalent of about 300 football fields.

Fire crews this week were making inroads to stop the fire, Nash said.

“We’ve got some very hardworking firefighters on the ground that are making progress on constructing and reinforcing the fire line,” he said.

Lower temperatures and rain showers moved into the area by the weekend, but a deep layer of leaves, twigs and other organic material continued to smolder and vegetation remains dry, agencies involved in the response said Saturday.

The wildfire has burned unevenly, burning some areas black and partially scorching some trees while some zones within the fire perimeter haven’t burned at all. That’s left a tree canopy in place that could keep rain from the ground, the agencies said.

The Parks Highway on Saturday remained open, while a temporary flight restriction is in effect over the Riley Fire until July 19.

The Riley Fire began last Sunday, prompting park officials to close access to the park starting that afternoon.

The shutdown came during the Fourth of July week, when 4,000 tourists or more visit the park that’s home to North America’s tallest mountain.

The fire earlier in the week had been reported as 25% contained before the estimate was revised down to 5%. That resulted from a miscommunication that changed after further review of the fire, according to the agencies.

The areas of containment now include the southeast edge and northernmost tip of the Riley Fire, according to the incident response team. “Crews are working to extend the containment line by going further into the burned area and extinguishing heat,” the team said Saturday.

Nash said that saw work being done this week on steep terrain was made extra difficult after rain led to muddy conditions.

“We did call firefighters off the line for a period of time (Thursday) because of safety concerns,” Nash said.

The park explained the plan of attack to stop the fire in a social media post on Saturday.

More than 190 personnel were fighting the fire Saturday. No one has been hurt as of Friday, Nash said.

More rain is likely through the weekend, and lower temperatures with highs near 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 40% humidity are expected Sunday, the incident response team said. The forecast is calling for warmer, drier weather to return early in the week, however.

Train travelers to the park will see closer-to-typical operations for the first time in days: The Alaska Railroad said in an update Saturday that its usual service will resume on the Denali Star Train route, but train arrivals and departures in the area will now temporarily occur at the Healy Depot instead of the Denali Depot.

That marks a change from prior wildfire operations, which involved moving train riders onto buses for transport through the Denali National Park area. The train ride normally stops at Denali National Park as it makes the 12-hour journey between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

As of Saturday evening, there were 164 active wildfires statewide, with two new fires in the prior 24 hours, firefighting agencies said in a statement. So far, 324 fires have burned 536,658 acres across Alaska.