Wildfires

Wildfires - Alaska

Alaska's heat wave is driving wildfires and melting glaciers, choking the state’s biggest cities with smoke and bloating rivers with meltwater.

The Swan Lake wildfire to the south in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has burned since a June 5 lightning strike and consumed more than 68,000 acres

To the north, in Fairbanks, fire officials ordered evacuations in two areas and told residents in a third to be prepared to leave because of the Shovel Creek Fire, which had grown to 5,568 acres by Sunday.

In all, there were 354 wildfires covering 443,211 acres in Alaska as of Sunday morning, according to state and federal fire managers.