**Headline:** “Alaska’s ‘Zombie Fire’ Awakens Beneath 6 Feet of Ice – Scientists Confirm ‘Impossible’ Methane Burn”
**Verdict:** **False / Viral Misinformation**
**The Snippet (What’s Circulating):**
> “BREAKING: Alaska is burning from the inside out. A dormant ‘zombie fire’ thought to be extinct for 8 months has reignited under a 6-foot-thick layer of winter ice. Scientists at the University of Fairbanks say methane pockets are exploding under the permafrost, creating sinkholes that have swallowed two remote cabins. Video shows blue flames shooting out of a frozen lake. The governor is calling for a federal state of emergency. This is not drill — the ice is literally on fire in Wasilla.”
**Why It’s Fake:**
1. **No Officials Confirm This:** The University of Alaska Fairbanks has issued no such statement. The Alaska Division of Forestry and state emergency management agencies report no unusual “underground fires” or methane explosions matching this description.
2. **‘Zombie Fires’ Are Real, But Misrepresented:** “Zombie” or “overwintering” fires (peat fires that smolder under snow) are a real phenomenon, typically in boreal forests. However, they do not burn through **6 feet of ice** or create explosive sinkholes in inhabited areas. They burn slowly in dry peat, not solid permafrost.
3. **The Video is Fake:** The widely-shared clip showing blue flames erupting from a frozen lake was debunked as footage from a 2022 scientific **methane hydrate experiment** in Siberia — not an active fire in Alaska. The location metadata was spoofed.
4. **Wasilla Geography:** Wasilla is a populated suburban area near Anchorage. A multi-acre sinkhole or ice fire there would be impossible to hide or remain un