Wildfire round-up

OSBURN — It is now safe to say that we have entered wildfire season.

With 11 total wildfires cropping up since July 11 (four of which are in or near the Silver Valley)- local, state, and federal fire crews have been bouncing all over Shoshone County.

From the southern regions of the county such as Avery and the St. Joe River to the northern regions of Prichard and Mullan, firefighters have certainly had their hands full.

With so many fires in such a short amount time, one would almost think a madman is running around kicking all of these up.

Fortunately, that is not the case.

The real answer is much more puzzling and peculiar.

After reviewing official and unofficial/rumored causes of these fires, it appears that most ignitions involved acts of nature, human error, and a little bit of simple bad luck.

Chris Myers, Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) firefighter and incident commander for several of the fires in our area, attributes many of these instances to dry conditions and human influences.

“Its summer time,” Myers said, “It’s getting dryer, it’s hot out, and people are going into the woods more.”

Myers and his crew, based in Cataldo, have responded to three of the four major fires in the Silver Valley area- Big Creek, Rose Lake, and Mullan (also known as the Grouse Creek fire).

The Big Creek fire has been confirmed by IDL to be caused by a lightning strike, the rest are officially still under investigation.

Locals in Rose Lake and Shoshone News-Press (SNP) Facebook followers have said that the Rose Lake fire was caused by an overloaded logging truck clipping power lines hanging over Highway 3.

This rumored explanation could not be confirmed or denied by officials, as it is still under investigation.

Fire crews had to act fast as the fire’s point of origin was close to the town.

Despite the less than ideal proximity to structures, fires crews from IDL, Shoshone County Fire District No.2, and the United States Forest Service (USFS) were able to limit the damage to just wilderness and one electrical pole.

Power to residents in the area was disrupted for a time until Avista arrived on scene to replace the burnt power pole and lines.

So that’s one point for act of nature and one possible point for human error; what about bad luck?

Thats what appears to be the case with the Beaver Creek fire near Prichard.

According to Mike Decker, Prichard/ Murray Volunteer Fire Department (PMFD) Chief, this fire began at approximately 4:15 p.m. Monday afternoon when a pine tree collapsed (for undetermined reasons) and struck the nearby power pole along Beaver Creek Road.

In addition to knocking out power to the Prichard/ Murray area, sparks then shot off of the power lines 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 USFS and IDL.

The USFS crews took lead on the situation upon arrival.

One home near the affected hillside was threatened by the flames initially, but crews ensured that the fire was pushed back from its location.

No information (official or unofficial) as to the cause of the Mullan fire is available at this time, but it was reported by SNP that the fire started at approximately 1 p.m. on July 11 and the fire was fought by a 15-person crew comprised of IDL firefighters working in collaboration with the Mullan Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) and Shoshone County Fire District No.3 (SCFD3).

As for why all these fires have occurred in such a short period of time, Myers had no explanation.

In light of recent events and wilderness conditions, the Shoshone County Fire Chiefs Association has decided to raise the fire danger level to very high.

Because of this, Myers stressed the importance of fire prevention and being vigilant.

“We are all on the same team and were counting on you to be our eyes out there” he said.

“If you see a wildfire, please lets us know and call 911. If we can catch them (wildfires) when they are small, they are manageable.”

Myers also wants to remind folks that before they drive they should ensure that their vehicles and trailers are in good condition and to check for loose equipment or chains that may fall off or drag on the road, as IDL and local agencies have had to respond to several spot fires along Interstate 90 that could have been caused by sparks from passing vehicles.

The following is the available information and conditions of the 10 active wildfires in Shoshone County from this month as of 12 p.m. Thursday, July 20. Information was collected directly from the USFS interagency center and reports from crews on the ground.

USFS uses a four stage system when describing the status of a wild fire: not contained, contained, controlled, and out.

Information is organized by wildfire name, acres burned, date and time when the fire was reported, status, and resources used (if information is available):

- Mullan (or Grouse Creek), 2.9 acres, reported on July 11 at 1 p.m., contained on July 11 at 6 p.m. and controlled on July 14 at 10 a.m. Crews from IDL and MVFD, one helicopter, one water tender, and a dozer.

- Avery Dumpster, .1 acres, reported on July 14 at 6:08 p.m., contained on July 14 at 7:51 p.m. and controlled on July 16 at 8:19 p.m., USFS fire crews.

- Mica Berry, 17 acres, reported on July 15 at 9:10 a.m., contained on July 18 at 12:44 p.m., IDL and USFS crews.

- Tyler Ridge, .3 acres, reported on July 15 at 10:28 a.m., contained on July 15 4:04 p.m. and controlled on July 16 at 11:49 a.m., IDL and USFS crews.

- Spring Creek, reported on July 15 at 11:08 a.m., out, USFS crews.

- Big Creek, .25 acres, reported on July 16 at 9:18 a.m., contained on July 16 at 7:05 p.m. and controlled on July 19 at 12:38 p.m. IDL crews and helicopters.

- Fire Draw, .5 acres, reported on July 17 at 11:20 a.m., contained and controlled on July 17 at 6:34 p.m., IDL crews.

- Beaver Creek, 10 acres, reported on 717 at 5:38 p.m., contained on July 19 at 8:47 a.m., Crews from USFS, IDL, and PMFD, helicopters, planes, and water tenders.

- Rose Lake, 5 acres, reported on July 18 at 2:34 p.m., contained on July 19 at 10:40 a.m. and controlled on July 19 at 5:48 p.m., Crews from IDL, USFS, and Shoshone County Fire District No. 2, one plane, water tenders.

- Burnt Fork, .5 acres, reported on July 19 at 4:44 a.m., contained on July 19 at 12:10 p.m. and controlled on July 19 at 2:19 p.m., IDL and USFS crews.