Unalaska, AK – Unalaska firefighters spent two hours containing a grass fire on Friday evening behind the Crowley dock on Captain's Bay Road.

Public Safety Department Fire Chief Sidney Johnson said the fire started when the wind blew embers from a controlled pallet fire up into the valley behind the Crowley facility, igniting the dry grass on an adjoining hill.

"It was a huge portion of the hill," Johnson said. "I would say, roughly estimating, about three-quarters the size of a football field."

About a dozen firefighters were on the scene, along with much of the department's firefighting equipment, which Johnson said was necessary because of the remoteness of the area.

"We brought all three of our trucks out," he said. "We didn't know what the water supply situation would be like."

This month's cold and clear weather have left this end of the usually damp Aleutians covered in dry brown grass, and Unalaska isn't the only community coping with grass fires. About one square mile of land on Akutan Island burned last Thursday. Village public safety officer Jay Levan said community members fought the fire, which started near the town's incinerator, for about four hours that evening. The fire burned itself out before reaching town.