Weekly Fire Update
There are currently no major fires on IDL Protection. The 20 acre Sarah Loop Fire started Tuesday, August 15 and was 100% contained on Wednesday, August 16.
While no homes were lost, two outbuildings unfortunately were reported burned.
The IDL Mica Forest Protective District managed the fire and were grateful the Forest Service answered the call for help by quickly diverting aircraft from the Ridge Creek Fire, adding to the already aggressive initial attack.
IDL's third team fire of the year, the Parkway Fire, started August 4 and was managed by an IDL Type 3 Incident Management Team (Nate Rogers I.C.). By August 8 it was 100% contained and returned to the Mica Forest Protective District. The incident was held at 80 acres.
View the Most Current Wildfire Report on IDL's Fire News Feed
IDL's Miller and Brede Join Governor at St. Maries Capital for a Day
On Thursday Director Dustin Miller and St. Joe Supervisory Area Manager Tony Brede joined Governor Little at the St. Maries Capital for a Day event.
IDL manages 72,102 surface acres in Benewah County and in FY22 the trust distributed $270,592 to the local school districts. During FY23 the department brought 80 million board feet of timber to market via eleven timber sales in Benewah County.
On land IDL protects in Benewah County, so far this year 14 fires have burned 170 acres. This acreage includes the Tyson Fire which burned 155 acres and cost an estimated $2.7 million to suppress.
Citizens attending the event expressed interest in a land exchange underway between IDL and the county.
Fire Restrictions
Stage 2 Fire Restrictions were implemented on August 9 in the Coeur d’Alene Fire Restrictions Area which includes the North and South Fire Restriction Zones.
Because fire conditions changed so quickly the decision was made to bypass Stage 1 restrictions and go directly into Stage 2. This area includes all lands managed by or under the fire protection of Idaho Department of Lands, Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, or other tribal or federal agencies.
Stage 1 Fire Restrictions were implemented on July 28 in the Central Idaho Fire Restrictions Area.
Fire danger across the state is Very High to Extreme with the exception of Mica and Southwest Forest Protective Districts which are both listed as High.
Current fire restrictions can be found on the IDL website.
 
Our Social Media Accounts Have Gone to the Birds
As a family loaded their car to evacuate in the midst of the Parkway Fire in Post Falls, their pet bird flew away. On Tuesday, August 8, firefighters mopping up found it.
This little Phoenix has been returned to its family.
Nate Rogers, the incident commander on the Type 3 IMT assigned to the Parkway Fire shared a photo of this lucky bird with IDL's communications team.
The PIOs posted the photo to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, where it performed very well.
Why would a social media post about a bird perched on a firefighter's hardhat matter?
Sure, it's fun and maybe even whimsical. But at its core, the photo helps IDL demonstrate proof of performance. In this case, "gone to the birds" humanizes the agency's efforts by using feel-good humor. This post bookends previous posts that provided vital public information during an emergency and demonstrated the competence of our personnel.
It also keeps people coming back to our channels for information, which is important for fire prevention education during the fire season.
Since the post was published, "gone to the the birds" ranked as the fourth highest-viewed post on our social media accounts over the past month, garnering 20,353 impressions on Facebook. It's a force multiplier for our three highest viewed posts, which conveyed incident updates about the Parkway and Sarah Loop fires and received a combined 106,170 views. "Gone to the birds" made these other posts more memorable.
In a year's time, community members not directly impacted by the Parkway or Sarah Loop fires won't recall specifics of the incidents - who managed it, the fire suppression airshow in the sky or that subdivisions were saved from the conflagrations. However, they may remember the lost bird nicknamed Phoenix and by association, IDL's great work and the importance of preventing human caused wildfires.
IDL Firefighter Recovering from Serious Injuries in Car Accident
On July 26 a cement truck collided with Hunter Szydlowski's vehicle while he was driving to work. Hunter, an IDL wildland firefighter, was seriously injured in the accident and remains hospitalize in Coeur d'Alene.
Hunter is out of ICU and is improving daily. He is able to walk but still has some issues with his left lung. His family hopes he is able to go home soon.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help with Hunter's medical bills.
Idaho Department of Lands Hiring Seasonal Workers to Meet Surging Demand for Wildland Firefighting Equipment and Supplies
“Lives, property and valuable timber resources depend on our ability to supply firefighting equipment when it is needed, where it is needed,” declared Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) director Dustin Miller.
That’s why the agency is hiring at least ten seasonal team members to help meet the surging demand for wildfire equipment and supplies.
IDL’s Coeur d’Alene Interagency Fire Cache stocks and maintains wildland firefighting equipment and supplies, distributing these vital resources to crews battling wildfires across the west.
“Many items used on the fireline like fire hoses, chainsaws and water pumps come back to the Fire Cache and can be used on future fires after they are refurbished,” said IDL director Dustin Miller. “Returning and refurbishing equipment reduces fire expenses and saves taxpayers money.”
During the height of fire season, refurbishing equipment requires many helping hands, explained Miller. “With equipment returning from the field, and the likelihood of more wildfires the horizon, each season we bring in help to maintain short turn-around times.”
“The seasonal employees we hire do essential work,” said Miller. That work includes washing fire hoses, boxing up supplies, loading and offloading trucks, pressure-testing water handling equipment, making deliveries to fires and much more.
Driving positions are also available for those with valid driver’s licenses and experience driving forklifts or box trucks. You must be at least 18 years old to apply.
The jobs pay $17.92 per hour and team members work from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm, six days a week. These positions are eligible for overtime pay.
Apply today by emailing your resume to careers@idl.idaho.gov, or by visiting https://www.idl.idaho.gov/jobs.
Most Have Heard of Fire Restrictions, But Few Know How They’re Set
Many Idahoans have heard of fire restrictions during the summertime, but how decisions to implement restrictions are made, and who makes those calls, has always been a little mysterious.
In hope of making the fire restrictions process more transparent, IDL sent out a news release explaining the how and why and providing links to the Fire Restrictions Finder page with its GIS-enabled map so people can know what restrictions are in place anywhere in the state before heading out for weekend adventures.
Extreme Fire Danger Warrants Checking Months Old Burn Piles for Smoldering Material
Since much of Idaho now faces Extreme or Very High fire danger, Idaho Department of Lands fire managers ask anyone who burned large piles of materials this spring or last fall to confirm their piles are out cold.
“Recent high temperatures have rekindled material burned months ago that has been smoldering deep within burn piles,” said IDL’s Mica Forest Protective District Warden Terry Zufelt “Given current conditions, when the piles reignite, they are a serious wildfire risk.”
According to Zufelt, devastating wildfires sparked by old burn piles occur far too often. “The Hunter 2 Fire near Blanchard in 2020 started when an old burn pile roared back to life, scorching more than 700 acres.” There have been smaller wildfires ignited by old burn piles this year.
“All human caused fires are preventable,” Zufelt added.
Endowment Beneficiaries to Receive Record High Distribution in Fiscal Year 2025
IDL worked with EFIB Manager of Investments Chris Anton to send out a news release announcing the record distribution for FY25.
The Land Board approved distributing a record high $103.2 million to endowment beneficiaries in Fiscal Year 2025. This eclipses the prior year record distribution of $100.3 million by more than 2.9%.
The endowment fund had investment gains of 10.9% in Fiscal Year 2023 and the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) generated $52.3 million of net income from endowment land.
IDL, USFS Leaders Meet to Discuss Federal Wildfire Crisis Strategy
Last week Director Miller and Idaho State Forester Craig Foss met with federal officials in Coeur d'Alene to discuss the U.S. Forest Service's Wildfire Crisis Strategy (WCS), and how it dovetails with Idaho's No Boundaries Forestry initiative.
Other meeting participants included USFS Region 1 Regional Forester Leanne Martin, USFS Region 4 Regional Forester Mary Farnsworth, USFS Region 1 Director of State and Private Forestry Tim Garcia and two USDA-NRCS representatives.
The group discussed expanding priority firesheds to reduce fuels loads, an important step for preventing catastrophic wildfires and can threaten communities and destroy valuable resources.
The USFS launched the WCS strategy in January of 2022. In January 2023 the strategy was expanded to include an anticipated $34,000,000 in funding for cross boundary work in in the USFS Northern Region.
Under the WCS strategy, the Forest Service seeks to work with partners to focus fuels and forest health treatments strategically and at scale, using science to guide project implementation. For Idaho, their list includes:
- Idaho Department of Lands
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game
- Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation
- Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation
- Counties
- Forest products industry partners
- Non-profit advocacy groups
In Case You Missed It
One Team One Voice Webpage
Did you miss some important news? Are you curious about knowing what's happening across IDL? Our One Team, One Voice webpage contains an archive of IDL's newsletters covering:
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