STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTOS BY TREY SPAULDING AND BLM
A fire burning in Muldoon Canyon exploded from a hundred acres to 3,000 Sunday evening, threatening residences in the Fish Creek area.
Several residences on Fish Creek Road near Carey were given pre-evacuation notices, meaning that they should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, late Sunday evening.
The Sharps Fire, located six miles east of Bellevue near Sharps Canyon Road, was exhibiting extreme fire behavior with running, spotting and torching. It was moving to the east by Sunday evening.
And firefighters were concerned that gusty winds, low humidity, temperatures in the 90s and passing thunderstorms would add to their difficulties, said Kelsey Brizendine, fire information officer for the Twin Falls District BLM.
Firefighters do not know when they’ll be able to contain or control the fire.
Muldoon Canyon Road is closed from the entrance of EE-DA-HO Ranch to Baugh Creek Road. Hunt's Lane has been closed on the east side of the ranch. And both the Little Wood River Reservoir and High 5 Creek Recreation area have been evacuated and are closed to the public.
The fire was reported at 11:15 a.m. Sunday morning, drawing response from firefighters for Bureau of Land Management, Sawtooth National Forest and the Bellevue, Wood River, Hailey and Carey fire departments. Eight engines, two water tenders and two dozers were fighting the fire Sunday evening.
A big air tanker attacked the fire Sunday afternoon, dumping huge loads on the fire, said Bellevue resident Kristin Fletcher. Its attack was augmented by that of single engine air tankers, also known as SEATS, two helicopters scooping water out of a nearby pond and a spotter plane.
“They were throwing a lot of aircraft at it. It was a pretty active air show with them hitting it pretty hard with the SEATs and Super Scoopers,” said Anne Jeffery, a Bellevue resident who often works as a public information officer on wildland fires.
Super Scoopers are nicknames given to amphibious firefighting aircraft that can fly a hundred miles per hour just above the surface of a lake, scooping up as much as 1,600 gallons of water into its belly in just 12 seconds.
Those fighting the Sharps Fire were making fast turnarounds, probably refueling at Magic Reservoir, Jeffery said.
“The firefighters are trying to hit the fire as soon as it starts—that’s the best chance they have of putting it out. With the hot dry conditions we have now, they want to put forward their best efforts to put it out while it’s still small,” she added.
Idaho’s fire season exploded this past week with several fires in the western part of the state, including one that closed Highway 55 between Boise and McCall for a day and the 26,000-acre Mesa Fire, which forced evacuations of residents in the Council area.
The lightning-caused Bruneau Fire five miles northwest of Murphy Hot Springs has grown to 61,000 acres. And the Grassy Ridge Fire in eastern Idaho has grown to 76,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of the town of Dubois at one point. Residents have since been allowed to return.
And the Goose Creek Fire south of Jackpot, Nev., has now consumed 100,000 acres.
Mila Lyon spotted the smoke column of the Sharps Fire while hiking the Osberg Trail overlooking the Baker Creek Road north of Ketchum Sunday afternoon.
Her fears were realized when a helicopter with a big bucket swinging below it flew over she and her husband Marty as they drove home on Highway 75 past Cathedral Pines.
The Sharps Fire was cause for déjà vu among Bellevue residents, who held their breath last summer as the Martin Canyon Fire broke out in Muldoon Canyon east of Bellevue on July 23, 2017.
That fire, on the Bellevue side of the EE-DA-HO Ranch, was triggered by a target shooter shooting an explosive target that exploded when hit. It burned more than 4,000 acres of grass, sagebrush, aspen and Douglas fir. And, with the vegetation gone, rain and snowmelt later created gouges in the road that forced the BLM to close it.
The cause for the Sharps Fire is under investigation. Both campers and target shooters frequent the area.
Initially, it was estimated to be 100 acres but it had grown to 3,000 acres by 7 p.m. Sunday.
Jeffery said she could detect no smoke Sunday night at her home south of Bellevue.
“One of the thing that concerns me is that even the green fields we see around us are dry so it won’t take much to start a fire or for a fire to spread once it starts,” she said.
Southern Idaho is in the 90th percentile of the ERC index, which determines how dry and volatile fuels are. The Wood River Valley is in the 80th to 89th percentile of the ERC, which also determines how hot a fire could burn.
“Our danger level is much higher than Southern Nevada at this point,” Jeffery said. “And all of Idaho is forecast to be above normal risk for significant wildfire risk in August.”