Alaska experiencing wildfires it’s never seen before

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska is burning this year in ways rarely or ever seen. So far this year more than 530 wildfires have burned an area the size of Connecticut and the typically worst of the fire season lays ahead. Among the wildfires already this year was the largest ever in a typically largely fireproof southwest region of the state. And a pair of blazes that ripped through forests and produced smoke that blew hundreds of miles to the the Bering Sea community of Nome, where the normally crystal clear air was pushed into the extremely unhealthy category. Recent rains have helped but forecasts are showing a pattern similar to 2004, which was Alaska’s worst fire year.