Residents of the Alaska Native village of Venetie are being told to wait out the massive Pingo Fire because there's nowhere else to go.

The fire is less than three miles away from the village of 300. But evacuating residents by air is costly and the federal government won't provide assistance unless lives are endangered.

So the village has been told to leave their homes and meet on the runway if the fire approaches. The runway has been deemed the safest place.

The fire has hit more than 120,000 acres. Village residents say it will could devastate their subsistence resources.

Get the Story:
Village digs in against a fiery foe (The Anchorage Daily News 6/30)