82% of anchorage is in the zone

Anchorage's wildfire division, a team of two full time staff and one contractor rebuilt two years ago on federal grant money, has thinned vegetation and cleared standing timber across 150 acres and completed a fuel break at Abbott Loop Community Park. Fire Chief Douglas Schrage says preserving and expanding that work costs roughly $2.5 million a year, money the city does not currently have once the federal funding ends at the close of 2027.

Assembly members Zac Johnson and George Martinez sponsored an April resolution calling for an evaluation of a new Wildfire Interface Service Area, a mechanism that would charge properties in wildfire prone areas to help fund the clearing work. About 82% of Anchorage falls inside the wildland urban interface, meaning most residents could be affected depending on which funding model is chosen.

Four options are under review. One would spread the cost evenly across the entire city as a uniform areawide assessment. The other three use localized, risk based models that would charge more in areas with higher wildfire hazard, meaning a resident's bill would depend on where their property sits relative to the interface zone.

Another fuel break project is set to begin this month at South Basher, on state park land near the Stuckagain Heights neighborhood. No funding option has been adopted. Final recommendations on the Wildfire Interface Service Area are expected by the end of October.