Alaska’s slow start to wildfire season a relief after Connecticut-sized area burned last year

By MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska is off to the slowest start of a wildfire season in three decades — an immense relief one year after fires scorched an area roughly equivalent to the state of Connecticut. So far this year, wildfires have only burned an area about 1½ times the size of New York’s Central Park, thanks to a cool, wet summer. National Weather Service climate scientist Brian Brettschneider says if you were to draw up a recipe for a benign fire season in Alaska, this summer would check all the boxes — so far.  The state has sent about 100 firefighters to help in Canada and others are clearing fuel breaks to prevent future fires in Alaska.