FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A wildfire burning in steep, roadless terrain north of Haines has prompted a historic firefighting response: the first aerial fire jump by Alaska smokejumpers on the Southeast Alaska Panhandle in the program’s 67-year history. The Boulder Fire is burning roughly half a mile north of the highway and nearby homes. …Four Alaska smokejumpers with the US Wildland Fire Service flew more than 525 miles from Fairbanks and parachuted into the fire area on Aug. 3. It marked the first aerial fire jump by Alaska smokejumpers on the Panhandle since the program’s founding. Beth Ipsen, with the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska Fire Service, said the terrain around the Boulder Fire made a ground response nearly impossible. …The Alaska smokejumper program has approximately 70 jumpers this season. …So far this year, Alaska smokejumpers have made 476 individual fire jumps. Ipsen said many smokejumpers are currently deployed to the Pacific Northwest, where fire conditions have been severe.