Idaho Fire Season All but Over
By Sandra Forester, The Idaho Statesman, Boise
Sep. 24–This weekend’s weather just about quashed three major fires burning in Idaho, unofficially bringing the worst fire season in recent history to an end, officials said Sunday.
Snow and rain fell in Central and Southwest Idaho, squelching flames and limiting fire activity to smoldering hot spots and heated root wads in the Cascade Complex Fire in the Boise National Forest; the East Zone Complex Fire in the Payette National Forest; and the Rattlesnake Fire in the Nez Perce National Forest.
"They shouldn’t see much active flame anymore," said Margaret Williams, dispatcher for the Grangeville Interagency Dispatch and the Rattlesnake Wildland Fire.
East of McCall, Johnson Creek’s weather station recorded 1.5 inches of rain Saturday night, and Landmark had 4 inches of snow, which fire-behavior analysts call a season-ending event. Dixie, a town southeast of Grangeville that had been threatened through the season, received 2 inches of rain and snow, Williams said.
Colder temperatures and more showers and snow in the higher elevations are forecast this week, which means this fire season should be history, officials say.
"We’re pretty much done with this," said Mike Ferris, information officer for the East Zone Complex.
Warm Lake Road also reopened Saturday from Idaho 55 at Cascade to near the Big Creek Summit area, though road construction is under way — so drivers should expect heavy truck traffic.
Primed by almost a decade of drought, it was the worst fire season in recent history, exceeding the 1.3 million acres that burned in 2000 and 800,000 burned in 2006.
In 2007, a total of 2.113 million acres were blackened, or 3,301 square miles — a little larger than the size of Elmore County at 3,078 square miles.
Fires dotted the state during July and August, from the 632,000-acre Murphy Complex west of Twin Falls to the 42,250-acre Bridge Wildland Fire nine miles southeast of Powell. Most were started by lightning and burned for months, filling Idaho skies with smoke and ash and contributing to summer air pollution in the Treasure Valley.
Hundreds of homes and buildings were threatened, including some in the Sun Valley area, but losses were few. They included three homes and two cabins in the Warren/Secesh area north of McCall, two cabins in Concord in Idaho County, and the Snowshoe Cabin and five historic structures on Knox Ranch near Warm Lake southeast of McCall.
Fire crews and state and federal workers will now begin the task of gathering equipment, replanting certain areas, closing fire camps, cleaning up debris on the roads and reopening closed areas. But rain and snow may make the going slow.
"We don’t want to tear up the roads with traffic until things dry out a little more, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt by being in a hurry at this point," said incident commander Tom Suwyn on the Cascade Complex Fire. "Patience will be the guideline today."
Some burned areas are unstable because of the fires and rain, officials said. Burned stumps and root systems can create holes covered by ashes or snow; weakened trees often fall; and trees and rocks on hillsides can roll down for no reason. Hunters and others traveling in fire areas should be cautious.
Sandra Forester: 377-6464
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