The Nation - News from May 25, 1987

About 150 families in Delta Junction, Alaska, fled their homes in fear of a spreading fire and the Army alerted 1,100 residents of Ft. Greely to a possible evacuation, but drizzle dampened the fire threat, officials said. Most of the families have returned to their homes. More than 500 military and civilian firefighters battled the 31,500-acre blaze, but no damage or injuries were reported. The fire, which is being investigated, has scorched a swath of grasslands and black spruce forests 17 miles long and 3 miles wide southeast of Delta Junction, about 80 miles southeast of Fairbanks.