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Wildfire and the eclipse; what land managers are
doing |
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August 17, 2017 |
With all the additional people outside enjoying
the historic eclipse event in Idaho on Monday,
land managers and fire managers are taking extra
steps to ensure public safety when it comes to
wildfire.
Three things fire managers and land managers are
doing to protect the public around the eclipse,
according to the Idaho Department of Lands, are
establishing fire restrictions and burn bans,
prepositioning firefighting resources and
conducting patrols and sharing information.
Fire danger is very high or extreme in most
parts of Idaho.
As of Wednesday, the entire State of Idaho is
under fire restrictions, with the exception of
lands within the Wilderness Fire Restriction
Area in central Idaho.
Generally speaking, that means there are
restrictions on campfires, smoking, and other
activities on private, state and federal lands
outside city limits in Idaho. There are
additional restrictions on recreation and
equipment use on lands near Coeur d'Alene.
The public can access detailed information about
what is allowed in specific areas by visiting
http://www.idahofireinfo.com/p/fire-restrictions.html
or calling 1-844-ID-FIRES.
IDL also prepared a map showing current fire
restrictions. The statewide restrictions map is
available at
https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire/restrictions2017.pdf.
There are burn bans in place in some eastern
Idaho counties as well, meaning no agricultural
burning or debris burning is allowed in certain
places, either. Check with the fire protection
agency that covers your area or visit
http://burnpermits.idaho.gov/
to determine if burning outside city limits is
allowed right now.
The Idaho Department of Lands, U.S. Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management have plans
in place to preposition firefighting resources
to minimize travel time to a fire for initial
attack.
This includes prepositioning ground resources
such as fire engines in special locations so
that obstacles such as traffic are minimized if
a fire breaks out in the agency's protection
area.
Additionally, IDL aerial firefighting resources
such as helicopters are being brought in from
other parts of Idaho and prepositioned closer to
the path of totality so that initial attack
response is even quicker if a fire breaks out.
The IDL manages a 20,000-acre block of endowment
land to the south of Smiths Ferry that will be
in the path of totality.
IDL will have staff and hired patrollers near
this large block of state endowment land to
ensure the public is complying with fire
restrictions and to share information about
camping on endowment lands managed by IDL.
The public can access updates on specific fires
in Idaho by visiting
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/13/# or
http://www.idahofireinfo.com.
Lightning storms in the days ahead of the
eclipse could ignite more wildfires in Idaho.
Fire weather predictions can be viewed at
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ridge2/fire/.
Wildfire smoke and cloud cover could limit
viewing the eclipse. The National Weather
Service is updating its web site daily with
information about current and predicted weather
conditions across the path of totality in Idaho.
Information is available at
http://www.weather.gov/boi/eclipse.
IDL put together this poster with reminders
about fire prevention and camping and parking
guidelines on state endowment lands.
https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire/viewing-eclipse-on-idl-lands.pdf. |
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