Wildfire In Alaska Is Bigger Than the Entire City of Seattle

Photo Credit: MARK THIESSEN / APA wildfire in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage has grown to cover more than 193 square miles, but it was only 20 percent contained as of Sunday, fire officials said.

The Funny River Fire threatens about 150 cabins, vacation homes and year-round residences in three communities. Authorities have told people in those areas to be ready to leave but had not issued an evacuation order.

The fire, named after a road near its northern edge, was burning in the 1.9 million-acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and grew by about 42 square miles on Saturday but did not get any closer to structures. No buildings have been damaged and no injuries have been reported. The size of the blaze is not unusual for Alaska but the state does not usually see such large fires this early in the season, said Michelle Weston, spokeswoman with the

Alaska Interagency Management Team, which includes the state Division of Forestry and federal and local officials. For size comparison, as of Sunday morning, the Funny River Fire was larger than Seattle (143 square miles) but smaller than Anchorage (1,961 square miles).

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