Name: Wildfire in Alaska, May 23 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-05-23T08:00
End: 2002-05-31T23:59
Location: Alaska

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS AFG wrote it up.

A human-caused wildfire near Chena Hot Springs Road burned 4 cabins (estimated $5,000 a piece) and threatened to consume Angel Creek Lodge (at 50 mile Chena Hot Springs Road). The fire closed Chena Hot Springs Road from the 25th through the 3rd of June, effectively closing Chena Hot Springs Resort to tourism during the time. Reported loss to the Resort was estimated at $50,000, and would have been much greater had not the Resort been used as a fire-fighting staging area by fire agencies. Event continued into June.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fairbanks, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 7:58 AM AST, 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 7:58 AM AST, 2 minutes before

NORTH ALASKA FORECAST DISCUSSION
400 AM ADT THU MAY 23 2002

SFC...THERMAL TROF EXTNDS FM 1010 MB LOW 50N PASA E TO PAFA TO PAEG AND
INTO CANADA. POSITION OF TROF THRU 60 HRS WL GENERALLY BE ALG THE SAME
LN THO IT MAY DRIFT A LTL N OF PAFA TNGHT. 1027 MB HI N OF PASC WL DRIFT
TO MACKENZIE BAY TDY AND TNGHT. AT 4AM SAT 1020 MB HI WL BE NW OF PABR.
985 MB LOW 120 SW OF PAKO WL MV SLOLY NW AND BY 4AM SAT WL BE 250N PASY.
AN OCCLSN ASSCTD WITH THE LOW WL REACH THE PRIBILOFS THIS AFTRN THE
STALL OUT BETWN ST MATT AND ST LAWRENCE ISLANDS FRI AND BEGIN TO
DISSIPATE.

UPR AIR...HI PRES CONTS OVR NRN AK THRU THE WEEKEND BUT BEGINS TO
RETROGRADES TO THE W CST TO CHUKCHI SEA AS LOW PRES MVS S OVR NWRN
CANADA.

FIRE WX...LUKS LIKE RH IS HIER THIS MRNG VS YSTRDY MRNG OVR THE TANANA
VLY:
        RH 3AM WED    RH 3AM THU
PATA        21            36
PAOR        34            93
PABI        29            44
PAFA        28            43

WNDS ALSO SHOW SOME IMPROVEMENT AS PRES GRAD AROUND HI PRES WEAKENS.

.AFG...WATCH/WARNING SUMMARY...
PUBLIC...FLOOD WARNING...ZONE 211-SNAKE RIVER
MARINE...SCA 14 AND 9B.

*** MAY 02

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Middle Tanana Valley

When: May 23, 8:00 AM AST to May 31, 11:59 PM AST
Where: Middle Tanana Valley County, Two Rivers
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Alaska in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Alaska, May 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5296579.