Friday, August 14, 2026

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Photo: Firefighters, first responders, and law enforcement officials escorted the body of Leslie Washington from Ely, Minn to Duluth, Minn. and then the Twin Cities on Tuesday. (Courtesy Scorched Earth Services)

A wildland firefighter from the Northwest Arctic community of Noorvik, Alaska died Tuesday.

Federal officials say 41-year-old Leslie R. Washington worked for a Huslia-based company called Scorched Earth Services. It was contracted to help fight a 30,000 acre fire on the Minnesota-Canada border in the Superior National Forest.

Washington and his team were in northern Minnesota when he died after an undisclosed medical emergency.

In a statement, U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said the agency is “heartbroken at the loss of a wildland firefighter who died while protecting others.”

Washington’s wife told KOTZ news she remembers her husband as humble, kind, and devoted to his family. She said the loss is being felt throughout Noorvik and across Alaska. She said she was not ready to talk further.

The Department of the Interior says it is working with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to support Washington’s family, coworkers, and the broader firefighting community as they grieve.

Scorched Earth Services says Washington’s remains will be sent from Minnesota home to Noorvik.

Washington was one of dozens of firefighters from rural Alaska communities including Huslia, Selawik, and Fort Yukon, deployed this season through Scorched Earth Services.

Officials say more information will be released in the coming days.

Washington was assigned to the Bear Trap Fire.

Officials said Thursday it is 44% contained.

Lisa Smolenska, left, hands a bouquet to a customer on August 9, 2026 in Eugene, Oreg. as part of a fundraiser to help the Warm Springs Animal Relief Fund. (Photo: Brian Bull)

While crews mop up wildfires on Oregon’s Warm Springs reservation, a relief drive is underway to help affected horses and livestock.

Brian Bull of Underscore Native News and KLCC reports.

The goal of the Warm Springs Animal Relief Fund was to raise $15,000 for hay, feed, and care for animals who have lost forage and grazing land. At last check, they had nearly twice that amount.

The fundraising efforts are extending beyond central Oregon.

Last Sunday, Lisa Smolenska sold bouquets donated by Charles Little Flower Farm outside Lox, Stocks, & Bagels in Eugene, Oreg. She raised nearly $700.

“This has got to be ongoing because the animals are going to need forage over the wintertime as well and beyond. I don’t think we really know how long it’ll take to regenerate.”

Warm Springs rancher Shana Johnson says she is happy that there is a fund. Her horses and cows lost 99% of their grazing district to the Beachcomb Fire.

“When the fire started they all started coming home in groups, and there is absolutely nothing to eat.”

Smolenska says she will do another flower fundraiser this Sunday.

Tribal member Franc Fernandez, left, addresses attendees of community dinner as Sasha Ivan Sobolef of the Alaska Native Brotherhood holds burning sage on August 4, 2026. (Photo: Baiz Hoen / KFSK)

The Petersburg Indian Association recently announced that they will be repatriating the remains of a 6-month-old Tlingit girl. She is one of three ancestors the tribe plans to inter in Petersburg, Alaska.

KFSK’s Baiz Hoen has the story.

Stephanie Aikins is the administrative assistant for Petersburg’s tribal government, the Petersburg Indian Association. She spearheaded the repatriation project, and at a community dinner this month, she said she has been working on this since last May.

“ This is uncharted territory. There’s a lot of clan objects that have been taken and returned, not many who are ancestors.”

The tribe applied for a grant to help cover the cost of the repatriation efforts through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law that requires federal agencies and institutions that receive federal money to return important remains and objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Petersburg’s tribe received about $24,000 for this project.

The infant will be one of three ancestors the tribe plans to inter in Petersburg. The other two have been in the tribe’s possession for over 10 years.

One is a male estimated to be about 300 years old. He was found when the City of Petersburg was building the City Reservoir in the 1950s, and was given to the local high school. After it was found that he was of Native descent, the ancestor was given to the local tribe in 2013.

The other, a jawbone, was found around the 1980s about 10 miles south of town on the beach.

Aikins says the USFS had possession until 2011, when the ancestor was transferred to the tribe. He is thought to be prehistoric, based on the report.

Aikins says that the remains of the 6-month-old girl are currently being held at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle.

Aikins will be among a group of three traveling to Seattle on September 1 to receive the remains. They will return to Petersburg on September 4, and plan to host a ceremony at the airport that day for the infant girl’s return.

“She has been gone away from her land for almost 100 years, and she will be back on her land for the first time on September 4.”

Aikins says that the tribe will host a larger ceremony later in the fall, where they will inter the remains of the girl along with the two other ancestors already in their possession.

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