Fallen tree sparks Beaver Creek wildfire
Photos by Chanse Watson. A USFS wildland firefighter looks up at the inferno above him on the hillside near Beaver Creek Road.
One of the three fire suppression helicopters combating the blaze releases his bucket of water.
Attacking from the west side, another helicopter releases a delivery of water on the fire.
Many of these water drops were incredibly close to the crews working on the ground.
Smoke from the Beaver Creek fire could be seen several miles away.
A new power pole is installed with the hopes of returning power to the Prichard/Murray area soon.
Babin (red helmet) confers with one of the USFS firefighters. Crews are using chainsaws to remove unspent fuels in the operating area.
It is now safe to say that we have entered wildfire season.
With seven total wildfires cropping up in just the last few days- local, state, and federal fire crews have been bouncing all over Shoshone County.
Their most recent stop?
The former area of Delta near Prichard on Beaver Creek Road.
According to Mike Decker, Prichard/ Murray Volunteer Fire Department (PMFD) Chief, the Beaver Creek wildfire began at approximately 4:15 p.m. Monday afternoon when a pine tree collapsed and struck the nearby power lines along the road.
In addition to knocking out power to the Prichard/ Murray area, sparks then shot off of the line and ignited the collapsed tree.
With the help of a northwestern blowing wind, the flames then quickly climbed up the hillside.
PMFD was first on scene and then was quickly joined by crews from The United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL).
The USFS crews took lead on the situation.
Irv Williamson, USFS incident commander, told the News-Press Tuesday afternoon that the fire is 50 percent contained.
Ground crews have estimated that 10 acres of land has been burned.
One home near the affected hillside was threatened by the flames initially, but crews ensured that the fire was pushed back from its location.
With the assistance of three fire suppression helicopters, two spotting planes, one suppression plane, and several fire tender trucks Monday night, the collaborative of fire fighters have begun to establish a fire line by running water hose lines up the hillside.
Going toe-to-toe with the flames, crews are also using chainsaws to cut down trees so as to remove any unburnt fuels that could give the blaze further momentum.
The bulk of the fire suppression efforts are now being concentrated at the top of the hill, as opposed to the base where the fire initially broke out.
Aerial assets have been relying on the Shoshone County airport in Smelterville as a refueling point.
Mike Gunderson, Shoshone County Sheriff, was on scene Monday night to make sure onlookers were safe and traffic was controlled.
Gunderson and Arron Babin, USFS incident commander in training, stressed that even though our winter was quite wet, the wilderness has not seen much in the way of precipitation this summer.
“It’s much dryer than people think,” Gunderson said while commenting on all the fires in the county.
“Lightning is striking a lot of places,” Babin added.
Lightning was the cause of the Big Creek fire that occurred over the weekend.
That fire has since been contained.
Avista has since replaced the damaged power pole and lines- restoring power to the Prichard/ Murray area.
Electrical crews had to wait until the fire had been pushed back away from the road before they could make the lines hot.