FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- It's been almost a week since the Boundary fire forced hundreds of people to pack up a few personal possessions and flee their homes and cabins in Interior Alaska's spruce-and-tundra country.
But even with the promise of light rain Sunday that could significantly slow the advance of the 280,000-acre fire, fire managers warn it's not safe for the displaced to return home - too much could still go wrong.
The evacuation order remained in effect for 277 homes and 12 businesses along the Elliott Highway that were threatened by the blaze, about 30 miles north of Fairbanks. Much of the nearby Steese Highway also was closed to all but fire crews and workers at the Fort Knox mine. Alaska State Troopers, however, were letting some homeowners through to retrieve possessions or check on property, said fire information spokeswoman Teresa McPherson.
"But troopers are discouraging people from staying," she said.
Cooler weather Saturday helped moderate fire activity on the Boundary fire and the 170,000-acre Wolf Creek fire to the east.
The Alaska Army National Guard planned to dispatch two Blackhawk helicopters to Fairbanks on Sunday and a third aircraft and crew will be on standby at Fort Richardson in Anchorage. The helicopters are equipped with 900-gallon buckets that can precisely drop water on fires as well as be used to carry crews and equipment.
Additionally, federal officials said Saturday they expected to station at Fairbanks one of five firefighting air tankers that have been cleared for return to service. The former Navy P-3 Orions had been grounded since May because of safety concerns.
Crews fighting the Boundary fire have cleared fire breaks around about 15 percent of the fire, using bulldozers and burning out small trees, brush and grass.
The blaze had burned through part of the evacuation zone, where one home was reported damaged, fire information officer C.J. Norvell said.
Five recreational cabins have burned in the Wolf Creek fire, said Dave Whitmere, operations chief at the fire. The cabins were destroyed Thursday, a day of extreme fire behavior, fire managers said. It could take several days to determine the total loss and extent of damage.
The edge of the Wolf Creek fire was about a quarter-mile south of the Chena River at Mile 54 of the Chena Hot Springs Road. The fire is burning about 50 miles northeast of Fairbanks.
Several people living in the Chena Hot Springs area left their homes voluntarily, but no evacuations have been ordered and the road remains open.
Elsewhere, the 10-fire Eagle complex in east-central Alaska, just west of the Canada border, had burned more than 441,000 acres. Smokejumpers were dispatched to protect cabins in the area, the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center said.
To the south, fire crews were keeping an eye on the Taylor Highway - the only link to Eagle - as they battled several fires in the area.
Farther north, the fire line on the south flank of the 158,000-acre Pingo fire was holding, halting its progression toward Venetie, a village of about 300 people, said fire information officer Frances Reynolds.
The Solstice complex of fires, of which the Pingo is one, has so far burned more than 293,000 acres of forest and tundra.
There were 60 active fires in Alaska on Saturday, 10 of which were staffed. The rest were being monitored. So far this year, 333 fires have burned more than 1.7 million acres.
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