We present our vision and approach for building an AI talent pipeline in Alaska by addressing worsening wildfire impacts as a regional challenge. DOE-RENEW funds enabled this interdisciplinary collaboration across the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Argonne National Laboratory, resulting in layered, customized training for university students across Alaska. Sixteen students received guided, experiential AI training. Participants developed a unified wildfire analysis framework prototype integrating multimodal data, traditional analytical applications, and effective prompt engineering, creating pathways to AI and high-performance computing for physical/natural science students. We will extend training to rural campuses, community colleges, and high schools in Alaska.