STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Two fires near Ketchum continued to expand over the weekend, and a new one destroyed cabins west of Stanley.
- The Stewart Creek Fire 18 miles north of Fairfield grew 25 percent to 475 acres on Sunday.
And the smoke Sunday afternoon was blowing north towards the Wood River Valley.
The lightning-caused fire, now 20 percent contained, is burning in heavy timber. It’s leaving many burnt trees with weakened roots and hollowed trunks that could fall on firefighters, especially in winds up to 20 miles per hour as was present Sunday afternoon.
Six helicopters and several fixed wing air attack planes are trying to fight it from the air.
“A lot of metal in the air,” said Incident Commander Ryan Erne.
Crews are trying to steer the fire front towards the Soldier Mountain range in the northeast where they hope the fire will burn itself out in the rocky terrain and cliff faces where there is little fuel to burn.
After successfully establishing containment on the west side of the fire, firefighters are hoping to prevent its spread to the southeast. They’re hoping they can count on a 60 percent chance of rain to aid them in their efforts today.
Firefighters hope to have the fire contained by Wednesday, Sept. 5.
- The Bible Back Fire 11 miles northeast of Smiley Creek grew from 232 acres on Friday to 1,610 acres by Sunday.
The fire is in the White Cloud Mountains near Washington Lake Creek. On Saturday the fire progressed within a half-mile of the popular Washington Lake. It advanced one mile to the east of the Three Cabins Creek Trailhead.
The 20 Firefighters working on the fire worked on Sunday to build a fire line on the west side of the fire to keep the fire from moving further to the west. Temperatures in the 60 degrees helped; afternoon winds did not.
But firefighters have fingers crossed for rain or snow showers today with temperatures in the low 50s, both of which should moderate fire behavior.
- The 6,190-acre Wapiti Fire, which was reported at 2:12 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, has burned four cabins and an outbuilding in the Grandjean area west of Stanley. Several spot fires were found south of the South Fork Payette River but they were extinguished before they could get out of hand.
An area closure around the Grandjean has been put in place for public and firefighter safety. Forest Road 524, which connects Grandjean to Idaho Highway 21, has been closed and the Sawtooth Lodge, Grandjean campground and summer homes and hiking trails in the area have been evacuated.
The cause of fire is under investigation.
A Type 2 incident management team reported for duty Sunday evening.
Fire suppression now involves two Type 1 helicopters, one Type 3 helicopters, two air tankers, five hand crews and nine engines. There are 172 firefighters working the fire.
It is 0 percent contained.
Firefighters plan to spend today keeping the fire north of the South Fork of the Payette River and National Forest Service Road 524 so as to provide protection to the many cabins in the area. The weather is predicted to be favorable today with a high likelihood of showers and only a slight chance of thunderstorms.
Cabin owners and those who had to abandon campgrounds during the evacuation may call the Lowman Ranger District at 208-259-3361 for information about gaining access to the area.