"The fire made a run to the north overnight, crossed the no name creek to the north and down to Parker Creek to the south, and is being held at the creek side," say the fire officials.
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A total of three miles of fire line were constructed yesterday with the use of hand tools and a dozer. Crews also worked through the night on structure protection. Numerous heavy helicopter water drop operations took place west of the Westside Road, in an effort to keep the fire on the primitive, west side of the road, and away from the developed area on the east side of the road in that area. Crews are closely monitoring fire activity in Parker Creek drainage and on the slope above Westside Road from Parker Canyon to Long Canyon.
The Parker Ridge Fire is currently the largest fire burning in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Maps provided by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest (you can see the latest one by clicking here) show the fire to be between 4 and 5 miles in its longest length.
"Concern for firefighter and public safety is the absolute number one priority and remains the primary guidance for all management actions. Structure and private timber protection also continue to be of high importance and the fireline will be plumbed with a progressive hose lay today," said the officials.
Helicopter flights for reconnaissance continue over the area. Ground crews continue to further prepare homes, install sprinkler systems, and conduct defensive actions for properties along the West Side Road which lies around the eastern base of Parker Ridge.
"Night time operations will continue through the foreseeable future to aggressively manage the fire," fire officials said.
In our local area, Fire Danger rating is Extreme. The National Wildfire Preparedness Level is now at its highest level of PL 5.
With recent lightning storms in our region, there are more than 50 known wildfires currently burning across north Idaho, mainly at higher elevations and in remote locations. Most of the fires are less than an acre but may have the potential to grow as predicted winds and dry conditions persist.
"The vast majority of our current fires are very small, but the large number of fires is spreading our firefighters thin," said Jason Kirchner, U.S. Forest Service Public Affairs Officer.
Weather continues to be a serious concern, as there has been little let up in our ongoing hot, dry weather that tends to enhance fire behavior. We have also continued to have periodic lightning storms and flashes occurring. There currently are Red Flag Warning weather conditions until 8:00 p.m. tonight for our region.
Weather forecasters are predicting for weather today to be mostly cloudy with scattered rain showers and isolated thunderstorms today with the cold front. A second round of storms tonight will be accompanied by the potential for abundant lighting and may produce damaging winds, large hail and heavy rainfall in the afternoon and evening.
Temperatures today will have highs in the mid to upper 80s with lows in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Southwest wind today 10 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph in the afternoon and to 35 mph tonight. These wind gusts can facilitate spread of fires.
Chance of precipitation 50% today and 30% tonight, with rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. The front will usher in cooler temperatures and eventually better humidity numbers. Additional shower and thunderstorms may come in through next week.
"The high winds predicted for today may complicate containment efforts and increase the amount of smoke in the air," said Mr. Kirchner, "but we are hopeful that the cooler temperatures and higher humidity this weather front is bringing will help our firefighters quickly extinguish all of these fires soon."
Due to the large number of small fires burning across north Idaho, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests have opened a public fire information line at (208) 765-7383. Callers can expect to receive information about fire locations, road and trail closures, and safety information including evacuation preparations.
The fire information line will be staffed from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm until further notice. Officials are asking that callers to the line be patient with those manning the phone lines, as fire conditions are evolving rapidly.