Fire Crews Continue to Battle Flames, Weather

By Patrick Orr and Heath Druzin, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

About 30 remaining residents of the fire-besieged forest hamlet of Yellow Pine caught a break Wednesday when Idaho Power set up a portable generator to provide electricity.

That was welcome news in a town without electricity since late last week, when officials shut off power lines threatened by flames.

The generator arrived on a day when firefighters around the region battled "red flag" conditions, with high wind, heat and the threat of thunderstorms looming over the many fires burning in Central and Southwest Idaho. A cooling trend forecast for this weekend could give crews some relief, though Sunday’s forecast again warns of lightning.

Several Yellow Pine residents defied an state evacuation order Tuesday so they could defend their property if the growing Landmark Complex Fire moves into town.

Some of those residents, like Dave Imel, have been running personal generators to keep food cold. But they were in danger of running out of fuel, so the arrival of the 1,000-kilowatt Idaho Power generator was a welcome sight.

"They just pulled into town … You can’t believe how happy we are," Imel said.

Down the road at Warm Lake, a collection of about 50 cabins east of Cascade, it was like a ghost town as crews installed sprinkler systems and cut fire breaks to protect the historic community from the Cascade Complex of fires, said fire spokesman David Eaker. The fire had not burned any cabins by late Wednesday, though it has burned five historic U.S. Forest Service buildings.

Some cabin owners have expressed concern that fire managers are not putting foil-like protective wrap around buildings. The foil is sometimes used to repel flames and keep embers from floating into vents.

Eaker said Boise National Forest policy prohibits wrapping private buildings, though on the Payette National Forest, crews used the wrap to protect private cabins in the historic mining town of Warren.

Boise National Forest Supervisor Dick Smith was in Warm Lake observing firefighting efforts and could not be reached Wednesday evening.

Forest spokesman Dave Olson said Smith is reviewing a request by cabin owners to have their homes wrapped. Olson pointed out that forest managers have done a lot of work to reduce fire danger in the area, including extensive tree thinning.

Despite extreme fire conditions and with evacuation order in hand, Valley County Sheriff Patti Bolen has stopped short of physically forcing residents out of Yellow Pine, the only town so far under the order. Residents along Johnson Creek Road also are under the order.

As for the residents still refusing to leave, Bolen said she won’t risk her deputy’s safety to remove people who are determined to stay.

"Unless we have some issues back there, we probably aren’t going to go back," she said.

Fire officials say if weather conditions allow, crews could set a burnout along Johnson Creek Road on Friday or Saturday. That process involves setting a fire under controlled conditions to create a buffer between the oncoming wildfire and areas crews want to protect.

Northeast of McCall, firefighters continued to battle the East Zone Complex, which is threatening the communities of Warren and Secesh and has burned two cabins.

Crews kept working to protect cabins in the two communities, as well as those along the South Fork of the Salmon River, fire spokesman Tom James said.

In North Central Idaho, the Rattlesnake Fire has burned two cabins in the community of Concord and continues to threaten the towns of Dixie and Orogrande, both located southeast of Grangeville.

Patrick Orr: 373-6619; Heath Druzin: 373-6617