STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Last summer it was an exploding target that set off the fire that became the talk of Sun Valley.

This year it’s a pit stop gone bad.

The Sun Valley Fire Department responded to its first wildland fire of the season this past week—a fire in the hills above the new Lane Ranch in Elkhorn.

Black smoke was visible from various points in the valley. And, by the time the fire was extinguished, it had burned between 3.5 and five acres of land, estimated Sun Valley Fire Chief Taan Robrahn.

The cause?

Someone went to the bathroom and decided to burn his toilet paper, said Robrahn.

Of course, this isn’t the first fire to start because of the toilet paper burning ritual some people seem to think is best practice. Last July a mountain biker garnered the attention of CBS and other national media when he lit the popular Hulls Gulch area in the Boise Foothills on fire with his flaming poop.

It ended up scorching 73 acres costing up to $75,000 to fight as the BLM brought in four air tankers and three helicopters.

What to do?

The Idaho Conservation League, which sponsors the Wilderness Stewards preaches “Leave No Trace.” If you can’t pack out your business, bury it six to eight inches deep. Any less or any more and it won’t decompose as readily.

And don’t bury it within 200 feet of water.

Don’t have a pooper scooper? You can usually accomplish the task with a good stick or stone.