BY KAREN BOSSICK

A fast-growing fire in the hills west of Glendale Road that had grown to 10,681 acres by this morning prompted the evacuation of those living west of Rock Creek Road in Croy Canyon at 7 p.m. Monday evening.

The homes were bombed with retardant and as of 9 p.m. had been saved, said Ted Angle, a former Rancho Cielo Ranch resident.

The sheriff’s department also issued a Level 2 Be Set Pre-Evacuation notice for those living out Croy Creek Canyon west of Hailey. Level 2 means there is significant risk and residents should either voluntarily relocate outside the area or be ready to leave with the car pointed out the garage at a moment’s notice. Residents were also asked to maintain situational awareness and leave immediately if they feel they’re in danger.

The Sheriff's Department issued an evacuation order for all of Croy Canyon on its Facebook page about 9 p.m., then pulled it off their Facebook.

Additionally, a Hailey man told that he and other campers were forced to leave the North Fork Campground across from SNRA Headquarters seven miles north of Ketchum Monday night after lightning apparently started a fire in that area. Witnesses said they could see several bolts of lightning north of the area Monday night. Hundreds of lightning strikes swept through Idaho Monday afternoon and evening, causing multiple fires in West Idaho and even near Mountain Home, Fairfield and Bruneau.

Bonnie Hobbs said she saw the flames from the Glendale Fire cross over the ridge a few hours later, flow down through the sagebrush and jump Rock Creek Road about 6 p.m. As she left, it was moving towards Croy Creek Road headed towards Hailey where police were keeping non-residents from heading out Croy Canyon.

Staff at Mountain Humane got kennels ready for the 50 dogs and cats being housed at the animal welfare campus in response.

“We have a huge call list ready to take them if we need them to do so,” said Christine Ferguson, executive director of Mountain Humane at 7 p.m.  “Right now, we’re on hold but we have staff in place.”

The fire started about a third of the way up a sagebrush-covered hill above West Glendale Road and Brown’s Lane about five miles south of Bellevue. It quickly ran uphill, filling the air with dark brown smoke. Flames could be seen shooting in the air from as far away as Gannett Road at about 2 p.m.

A red flag warning was in effect at the time, meaning winds could gust 25 miles per hour or higher. Winds were blowing southeast at 11 miles per hour at 8 p.m.

A resident of Gannett said it was started by a fast-moving lightning storm that passed through the area.

It was pegged at 400 acres by Watch Duty at 4 pm. It had grown to 550 acres by 6:30 p.m.

A Very Large Air Tanker was seen responding a little after 2:30 p.m., dumping retardant on the fire. A helicopter scooped water from the Rock Creek Pond to dump on it.

Crews from Bellevue Fire, Carey Fire, Wood River Fire & Rescue Hailey Fire and the North Blaine County Fire District also responded.

WAPITI FIRE UPDATE

Things have been rough for firefighters fighting the Wapiti Fire at Stanley the past couple days, too.

Firefighters saw increased activity, particularly to the north and east, as the smoke cleared on Sunday. That said, the clearer air gave air resources more opportunity to support firefighters from the air.

Conditions remained very dry with humidity dropping as low as 10 percent in the afternoon. Winds in excess of 25 miles per hour were expected to cause Red Flag Warning conditions on Monday.

Happily, no major fire growth occurred Monday despite it being a wild weather day.

Currently two fixed-wing air attacks and six helicopters are assigned to the fire.

The fire was 107,986 acres on Monday and continues to be zero percent contained.It had grown to 108,017 acres by Tuesday and was 2 percent contained.

As of Monday, 1,487 firefighters—45 more than the day before--were working on the fire, which was started by lightning near Grandjean on July 24. By Tuesday it was 1,10. It remains the No. 1 fire in the nation.

“Thank You” cards for first responders are being collected at the Sawtooth Business Center at 101 Empty Saddle Road in Hailey. They will be delivered to the Rocky Mountain Critical Incident Command Team as they are received.