Over a dozen Yukon firefighters and support personnel are on their way to Tok, Alaska to provide assistance after an explosive wildfire leveled roughly 20 homes in the community on Monday.
According to Wayne Potoroka, director of communications for Yukon Community Services, four initial attack firefighting crews are being deployed alongside a division supervisor and Wildland Fire Management agency representative.
The mutual aid deployment is being coordinated via the Northwest Wildland Fire Protection Agreement, an agreement between over a dozen territories, provinces and states to provide mutual aid assistance in times of need.
Potoroka said the deployment “reflects the long-standing practice of mutual aid and cooperation among wildfire management agencies,” and highlighted another recent fire near the Alaska Highway border crossing east of Tok where Alaskan firefighters aided Yukon crews in containing the blaze.
The blaze in Tok, which has been dubbed the Mukluk fire, began on Aug. 17 with a fire first reported in the backyard of a residence off the Alaska Highway on the west side of the community, according to the ALASKA DIVISION OF FORESTRY & FIRE PROTECTION . Due to hot and dry conditions the fire grew rapidly, ballooning to over 1500 acres in mere hours and destroying roughly 20 properties as first responders scrambled to evacuate residents.
As of Tuesday afternoon the fire is estimated to have grown to over 3000 acres and the office of Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy’s has issued a disaster declaration in response to the fire.
Yukon firefighters will be joining more than 100 firefighters already on the ground in Tok with dozens of state, regional and local resources already engaged in response efforts.
This deployment comes amid a string of out of territory deployments by Yukon firefighters.
Last week, Yukon Wildland Fire Management sent seven wildfire management specialists to the United States as several western states continue to battle intense fire seasons that have strained resources across the country.
According to a press release from Yukon Wildland Fire Management, two task force leaders and two time recorder administrative staff have been deployed to Oregon, with two more task force leaders and an agency representative deployed to Washington state.
Throughout the summer Yukon firefighting personnel have also deployed across Canada with previous deployments to the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Ontario as the country has experienced another intense fire season across multiple jurisdictions.
By Noah Korver, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Aug 20, 2026 at 18:02
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