Calmer Winds May Help Fight Ketchum Wildfire
By Sandra Forester, The Idaho Statesman, Boise
Aug. 27–High winds continued to bedevil firefighting efforts around Ketchum on Sunday, but a forecast of calmer conditions brought optimism to Gov. Butch Otter and U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, who visited the community Sunday afternoon.
Local and state officials are urging people who don’t live in the area to stay away from the resort community to lessen traffic on Idaho 75, the main corridor for firefighters.
Ash and smoke has made air quality unhealthy, and schools in the area are closed today and Tuesday.
Winds drove flames up Bald Mountain and around the Seattle Ridge Lodge Sunday, prompting the famed Sun Valley ski resort to begin running snowmaking equipment and running the chairlift on the College ski run to protect against surging flames, a spokeswoman for fire incident management said.
Although helicopters battled the Castle Rock fire Sunday, air tankers were grounded for the second straight day by winds up to 45 mph, and the only hospital in the region ran with a reduced staff because it is in the evacuated area.
Fire Information Officer Bob Beanblossom said 100 engines were protecting evacuated homes, with access being controlled by Idaho National Guard soldiers. About 100 homes received mandatory evacuation orders last week, and another 1,000 homes were ordered evacuated Saturday when the fire surged past predetermined points.
Some of the evacuated homes near the mountain town are worth millions of dollars, but the latest evacuation orders also include mobile home parks.
Otter and Craig toured parts of the Castle Rock fire Sunday afternoon and met with local leaders and fire managers.
In an interview with the Statesman, they said they’re hopeful that firefighters will get a handle on the fire as winds die down in the next few days.
“It’s all going to depend on tonight,” Otter said Sunday. Late Sunday night, a fire manager said winds were beginning to die down.
Otter flew to Ketchum Sunday from Oklahoma, where he paid a quick visit to Idaho Army National Guard troops being deployed to Iraq.. Craig traveled from Boise to join the governor.
The blaze gained about 326 acres from Saturday to Sunday and has a 72-mile fire line. It has burned a total of 25,960 acres since it was sparked by lightning Aug. 16.
As of Sunday evening, the fire was 38 percent contained, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 1,400 personnel are working the fire, including crews from Middleton, Star and Wendell. Otter said 24 National Guard members have helped with traffic control, and 38 more will join the battle today.
“It looks like a beehive out there,” Otter said.
Firefighters have herded the fire into a small point that’s heading in a north and northwest direction, Otter said.
If winds die down as expected in the next few days, firefighters plan back-burns ahead of the fire, eliminating brush and trees that would feed fire growth.
Heavy winds through the weekend fanned the fire, causing flames to run uphill on the crowns of trees and torch other trees.
The blaze came to within a quarter mile of homes, Craig said. But firefighters managed to protect homes and structures, even those in canyons the fire burned through, Otter added.
High winds broke off the tops of trees, scattering hot embers up to 2 miles ahead of the blaze and threatening homes on both sides of Idaho 75,
About 25 people stayed at the American Red Cross shelter at the Hailey Community Campus on Saturday night, which expected to accommodate up to 100 Sunday night, Red Cross chief Dick Rush said.
Craig and Otter said local coordination of the evacuations was very effective and minimized the number of people who needed emergency shelter.
“I continue to be impressed with the tremendous effort by a mosaic of agencies federal, state and local,” Otter said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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