Three fires in Boundary County already this season
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.
