STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Last summer in late July Idaho Power Company shut off power to more than 42,000  customers near Boise to reduce the risk of wildfire in the face of scorching hot weather and 70-mile-per-hour winds.

Thousands more across the Treasure Valley and Eastern Oregon also lost power that day as severe thunderstorms moved through the area.

It was the first time Idaho Power had used its Public Safety Power Shutoff.

Chris Corwin is the Blaine County Disaster Services coordinator.

The utility company is becoming more proactive, spending $413 million over the next five years toward wildfire mitigation in light of wildfires in California that might have been started by transmission lines.

Company spokesperson Dani Southard told those attending a recent roundtable discussion hosted by Sun Valley Economic Development that the company is gauging where the risks are in various communities.  Company employees watch weather stations to make adjustments, and they’re increasing inspections.  

They’re undergrounding power lines in some areas, including those along Highway 75 just south of Ketchum. But, because that’s expensive, they’re hardening power lines elsewhere, replacing wooden cross bars and power lines with those made of composite material and, wrapping poles with mesh. And they’re also managing vegetation where needed.

They may have their work cut out for them this summer. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise warned this week that the Northwest is at significant fire risk this summer, thanks to a wet winter that spurred abundant grass growth and a dry spring that was warm enough to cause snowpack to melt faster than usual.

Dani Southard formerly worked with the National Forest Foundation’s efforts to restore local areas following the 2013 Beaver Creek Fire and to improve forest health on Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain.

Jake Renz, fire management officer or the Sawtooth National Forest, said the fire risk locally is expected to be average during June and July and ramp up come August. This past winter’s snowpack was 119 percent of average, but snowpack in the valley melted out two weeks earlier than normal. And summer is expected to be warmer and drier than normal.

Renz said that nationally fire agencies have been successful catching 95 percent of wildland fires immediately. It’s the wind-driven ones that end up on the national news. And this year’s firefighting efforts lack capacity due to the layoffs implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and difficulty finding housing for Forest Service workers.

Panelists said low intensity prescribed fires can help reduce fuel that has built up over the past 100 years.

“The right fire at the right place at the right time.”

Guy Cherp was among the Sun Valley Economic Development members who hosted the roundtable looking at Wildfire in Blaine County.

Fuel reduction work is planned over the next five years from Alturas and Petit lakes to  nearby summer homes. Crews had planned on doing preventative fires north of Stanley, but last summer’s Wapiti Fire took out a lot of the vegetation there.

Smiley Creek is also good for a while, thanks to the 2023 Ross Fork Fire that surrounded the community south of Stanley.

“It’s not one and done,” though,” warned Chris Corwin, Blaine County Disaster Services coordinator. “It takes maintenance because things grow.”

Panelists said that conflagrations like that of the Palisades Fire in southern California are preventable if homes are built or retrofitted to certain Firewise standards. Firewise strategies, such as replacing a wooden deck with a concrete patio, have been addressed in Heatherlands and Starweather neighborhoods between Hailey and Ketchum.

Jake Renz worked last summer’s Bench Lake and Wapiti fires near Stanley.

Work needs to be done in the mountain overlay areas, Corwin said. “We’re here because of how beautiful it is, but risks come with that. Embers can fly two miles. And, if they land on your wooden deck or a wooden bench on your patio, things can go up in a hurry.”

The 10,000 properties in the valley can sign up for a Firewise assessment. More information can be found at https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/firewise-usa.

“It’s no longer a fire season. It’s a fire year,” said Renz. “We’ve already seen a tremendous amount of fire across the United States, including Minnesota and the East Coast.”

It’s getting worse, too, as every year entire communities are wiped off the map.

“People say we need more logging. People say we need more grazing. But it’s a complex problem. Prescribed fires are one solution, and we’re going to have to get to the point where we embrace them.”