Sockeye salmon are blue tinged with silver in color while living in the ocean. When they return to spawning grounds, their bodies become red and their heads turn green. Sockeye can be anywhere from in length and weigh from . Two distinguishing features are their long, serrated gill rakers that range from 30 to 40 in number, and their lack of a spot on their tail or back. Sockeye salmon range as far south as the Columbia River in the eastern Pacific (although individuals have been spotted as far south as the 10 Mile River on the Mendocino Coast of California) and
Sockeye Fire the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and other mushing events, perished in the fire. A local kennel owned by veteran Iditarod musher DeeDee Jonrowe was destroyed. Jonrowe also lost her home, several pets and a flock of chickens in the fire. At least six dogs are known to have perished in the fire. Early on during the incident, emergency officials determined that the fire was "human caused". On July 13, 2015 it was reported by multiple news sources in Alaska that Greg Imig and Amy Dewitt of Anchorage faced numerous charges in relation to the Sockeye Fire, including reckless endangerment,