Wildland Fire
Idaho Fire Update
Castle Rock Costs Ketchum $200,000Without making any firm decisions, the Ketchum City Council Tuesday evening began searching for $200,000 in savings to accommodate that size of a drop in anticipated Local Option Tax revenues resulting from the Castle Rock Fire, including the difficult cancellation of Wagon Days, Ketchum's single biggest holiday of summer.
While the sum is large, city leaders hadn't yet adopted the budget the shortfall will affect and have time to make changes to balance the budget. But what projects and departments will be short-funded has yet to be identified, though a small extension of the 4th Street upgrade will move forward because much of the materials for it –paver blocks and street lights- are already here.
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montana's special legislative session
Legislature Adds $82 Million to State’s Firefighting CoffersWith the 2007 fire season already costing Montana more than was appropriated for the entire biennium, lawmakers convened in Helena Wednesday for a special legislative session to refill the state's firefighting fund.
At the end of the day lawmakers had appropriated $82 million -- $39 million for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to cover this year’s firefighting bill, $3 million for the Department of Military Affairs, and $40 million for a new account to pay future firefighting costs (it can't be touched until next July), according to the Helena IR State Bureau.
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Flathead Tribes Deny ‘Letting it Burn’
Accusations Fly on Jocko Lakes Fire
As the danger from another wildfire season tentatively begins to draw down, the finger-pointing over fire policy and management has already ramped up. The rumor mill that inevitably takes shape amid natural disasters has given rise to a controversial story regarding mismanagement of the Jocko Lakes fire by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. It’s a rumor a tribal spokesman is taking great pains to dispel, and one he said reveals an alarming disconnect between the CSKT and surrounding communities.
According to Rob McDonald, communications director for the tribes, the rumor began circulating around Aug. 6 – a few days after the Jocko Lakes fire started expanding rapidly – that CSKT officials obstructed a DNRC crew from an initial attack of the beginnings of the fire July 18 because it was burning in a tribal primitive area. The fire, which as of this writing has burned more 35,000 acres, came close to destroying the town of Seeley Lake.
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montana fire roundup
Montana’s Headline Fires Wrapped Up, Cold Front ComingMontana's largest fire of the season, the Chippy Creek Fire 42 mile southwest of Kalispell, is now fully contained at 99,090 acres -- or about 155 square miles. Evacuation orders have been lifted and rehabilitation operations are underway.
And a couple of other summer headliners are out or mostly out. The Black Cat Fire northwest of Missoula has been contained at less than 12,000 acres, and the 36,000-acre Jocko Lakes Fire west of Seeley Lake is 93 percent contained.
Red-flag conditions in Central Montana are expected to precede a cold front sweeping into Montana today, according to the National Weather Service, and after the winds subside the region will be left with significantly cooler air -- highs in the 70s for the rest of the week -- with rain here and there.
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Idaho Fires
Fire Near Tamarack Grows, Crews Get Handle on Fire Near Ketchum
As crews get ready to contain the Castle Rock fire near Ketchum, the Grays Creek fire burning south of Council Idaho near the Tamarack Ski Resort shot up to the nation's top priority fire growing over the weekend to 17,768 acres, showcasing extreme fire behavior and spitting ash as far away as McCall.
Tamarack is about seven miles east of the fire and firefighters are cautioning that if the fire continues to move northeast as it did Sunday, the lodge, the lifts, the condos and residences there would be threatened. The fire has so far burned one seasonal home and a trailer, according to Monday reports.
Monday, ground crews were working on securing the east flank of the fire in the Cabin Creek drainage and southwest of Cabin Creek Campgound, with the help of "a significant number of air resources."
Near Ketchum, however, Firefighters are gaining ground on the Castle Rock fire and they expect to have the fire fully contained by Monday night. The fire is now 48,189 acres and 89 percent contained. The weekend's winds didn't produce any significant spotting on the fire and crews made good progress on mopping up containment lines to better ensure they will hold.
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DNRC Running out of Money
Montana Lawmakers Ready For Special Session on Fire SpendingMontana will owe more than $39 million after fall rains and snow have cooled this fire season. And already, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is out of money.
Earlier this week, Gov. Brian Schweitzer called state legislators back for the second special session of the year, this time to put money toward fighting fire and beef up the governor's emergency relief fund.
Some have questioned the timing of the special session, since fires are still burning around the state, but Bob Harrington, DNRC State Forester, says it's past time.
"We're out of money and we're going to have to shut down the DNRC to keep going," Harrington said. "We're out of money to pay the bills."
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evacuations still in effect
Idaho’s Castle Rock Fire 66 Percent Contained
Thursday, fire crews successfully completed burnout operations in the Warm Springs area of the Castle Rock Fire and it halted its spread farther east toward Ketchum.
Today, crews continue to patrol, mop-up and provide structure protection on all fronts of the fire perimeter with no additional burnouts operations planned for the day. Winds are coming out of the southwest and may gust up to 35 mph. Light rain fell early this morning over some of the fire area, but is not expected to have any effect on fire behavior.
Mandatory evacuations remain in effect for the Warm Springs Road area west of Gates Road. Voluntary evacuation orders are in effect for Warm Springs from the bridge at Gates Road and for the Greenhorn Gulch subdivision beginning at the log arch. All neighborhoods east of Highway 75, the Golden Eagle and Timber Gulch subdivisions, and St. Luke’s Hospital are under an Advisory Status warning.
For more, visit InciWeb.org and SunValleyOnline.com.
FIFTEEN MILES NORTH EAST
New Fire Near Tamarack ResortUPDATE: Jessica Flynn, spokesperson for Tamarack Resort, tells NewWest.Net/Boise, "The structures threatened are not at Tamarack. We are keeping a close watch on the fire, and on the great efforts crews are making to get it contained. But at this time it is not threatening anything at the resort since it is still some distance away."
A new wildfire is burning near Tamarack Ski Resort in Valley County, Idaho. Structures are threatened, and evacuations are proceeding.
The fire was ignited by lightening, according to Adams County officials, who also said it's an area heavy with dry sage, grasses, and the brown dry weeds of late summer.
The fire is about ten miles northeast of Cascade Lake, in the Grey's Creek area in the Payette National Forest. For those familiar with the town of Cascade, the view from the town side of the lake would be across the lake and to the north.
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brief relief
Missoula Again Choked with SmokeMany of the fires near Missoula have cooled considerably, so how come the valley is again loaded with smoke?
It's Idaho's fires for the most part, particularly the Bridge, Boundary Junction and the 100,000-acre Rattlesnake Fire, and also the Rombo Fire at the southern end of the Bitterroots -- "the same ones that brought all the smoke a couple weeks ago," meteorologist Victor Stegemiller of the National Weather Service in Missoula said.
As of 2:00 p.m. Thursday, a Stage 1 Air Alert is in effect for the Missoula area, meaning air quality is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Click here for the latest air quality status from the Missoula City-County Environmental Health Division.
There's a chance of thunderstorms for Thursday night and Friday, which could mix things up and blow the smoke out.
evacuations still in effect
Red Flag Winds to Hit Idaho’s Castle Rock Fire
The Castle Rock Fire, now in its 14th day, has burned 46,087 acres as of Thursday morning and more than half -- 55 percent -- has a big black line around it.
On Thursday and Friday, "They're anticipating a cold front coming through," fire information officer Rita Vollmer said. A red flag warning is in effect for Thursday afternoon and evening.
Last Saturday night and all day Sunday witnessed the effects of just such a cold front. Its 25 mph flows and 40 mph gusts blew the southern end of the fire frighteningly close to homes in Greenhorn Gulch and reached nearly up to the Seattle Ridge lodge.
Click here for full coverage on the Castle Rock Fire from SunValleyOnline.com.
