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Wildfire season: looking back and looking
ahead;
Three fires in Boundary County already this
season |
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June 23, 2016 |
 As
large wildfires burn across much of the western
United States, Idaho has so far generally been
spared, although three small fires have already
been fought and stopped right here in Boundary
County within the last six weeks.
The severity of wildfires around the country so
far this year can be illustrated with a few
informational facts:
• As of this morning, 54 active wildfires are
currently listed on the Incident Information
System, those fires burning in eleven states. No
fires are listed as currently burning in Idaho.
• Already hundreds of homes have been evacuated
around the West, and some homes have burned. In
California, for example, approximately 600 homes
have beeen evacuated in Lake Morena Village, and
770 homes have been evacuated in Duarte,
California. Around 100 homes have been evacuated
in Utah near the southwest Utah community of
Pine Valley.
• At least 24 homes were destroyed by New
Mexico's Dog Head Fire since it ignited June 14
in the mountains south of Albuquerque. That fire
is thought to be human-caused, and is under
investigation.
• Firefighters have been battling two adjacent
fires that have been burning only 20 miles away
from downtown Los Angeles.
• The largest wildfire currently burning is the
Cedar Fire in Arizona, which had burned nearly
43,000 acres at last report yesterday evening.
At last report, the fire is 24% contained, with
nearly 1,000 personnel working the fire. The
cause of this fire is unknown and under
investigation.
• There are nine other fires listed around the
country that are at over 10,000 acres burned.
Dozens of other smaller fires, ranging from zero
acres up to over 8,500 acres continue to burn.
U.S. Forest Service District Ranger for Bonners
Ferry, Kevin Knauth, said there have been "Three
fires that the Forest Service has been involved
with this spring in Boundary County."
The first and largest of these Boundary County
Fires was the Black Creek Fire, which was
started by lightning on May 12 in an area around
Black Mountain that had been logged this past
winter. Entities involved in fighting the fire
included Forest Service personnel from Bonners
Ferry, Priest Lake, and Sandpoint, also
Department of Lands personnel from Priest Lake,
Sandpoint, and Bonners Ferry. Also involved were
South Boundary Fire and two local logging
companies who provided excavators. Thirty-four
firefighters worked on this fire, which was
declared to be officially "out" on June 9 after
burning 23 acres.
The West Branch Fire, located within a timber
sale at the Copper Creek Road in the Eastport
area, was reported on May 16. "This was a human
caused fire that started in a logging slash
pile," said Mr. Knauth. After burning only
one-tenth of an acre, the fire was determined to
be extinguished on June 9.
Boundary County's third fire this spring was the
Snickers Fire in the Boundary Creek area in the
northwest part of the county, which was reported
on June 9. "This fire was human caused and
burning in mixed timber," said Mr. Knauth. Three
firefighters from the Idaho Department of Lands
along with five from the U.S. Forest Service
kept this fire to one-tenth of an acre. It was
declared to officially be out just two days ago
on June 21.
The Idaho Department of Lands has issued a
statement regarding their readiness for this
year's fire season, saying they are prepared
with almost 200 permanent and seasonal fire
personnel who are getting prepared for action.
The agency reports having 31 engines, two
six-person hand crews, four State Correctional
Crews, and two helitack crews with statewide
responsibility. Also available for use are four
Single Engine Air Tankers which are staged at
McCall, Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene, and are
ready for deployment, along with Heavy Air
Tankers, and one Amphibious Water Scooper, all
of which IDL State Forester David Groeschl says
are very effective at aiding initial attack
efforts on a fire.
“Our goal is to take strong aggressive action
with new fire starts and keep fires to less than
10 acres on State-protected lands,” Mr. Groeschl
said.
Last year, approximately 740,000 acres burned
across Idaho in what was an overall bad fire
year. It was right around this time last year
that the first of Boundary County's two larger
wildfires began, the Baker's Camp Fire. That
fire went on to burn approximately 50 acres in
northwest Boundary County. About a month later,
lightning strikes started the Parker Ridge fire,
which at one point crossed fire lines and the
Kootenai River in northwest Boundary County, and
forced evacuations in the Porthill and Copeland
areas. The Parker Ridge Fire burned
approximately 6,600 acres by the end of August.
Current weather forecasts are calling for mostly
good weather for the next ten days, although
this Friday's forecast is for scattered showers
and thunderstorms, along with winds from 10 to
15 miles per hour. That's the kind of weather
that could potentially put us at risk for
another local wildfire. We're all hoping that
doesn't happen; and it's nice to know that our
area firefighting agencies and other
firefighting outfits are prepared and ready.
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