Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

Alaska

An unusually large and violent cold front swept through a vast swath of Alaska this weekend, bringing with it heavy winds that downed power lines and stoked dozens of fires in the Interior and delivered rain and snow that blanketed hillsides as far south as Homer.

The Arctic blast produced "prolonged southerly winds nearly statewide" that combined with low humidity and dry forest fuel to start dozens of wildfires from the Mat-Su Valley to Tok on Saturday, wrote Sam Harrel of the Alaska Division of Forestry in an e-mail. Most of the fires were sparked by trees blowing on power lines. Of the 23 new fires reported, 15 were in the Fairbanks area.