Statewide Fire Update - 7/26/2024

Idaho Department of Lands sent this bulletin at 07/26/2024 01:25 PM MDT

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Statewide Fire Update

July 26, 2024

Statewide Fire Update

This report is published weekly during fire season and covers the fire situation on land protected by the Idaho Department of Lands, Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association (CPTPA), or the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association (SITPA), current fire statistics, the status of major fires and fire restrictions.

Use these links to jump to a section:

IDL Fire Situation
IDL Fire Suppression Expenses
Statewide Acres Burned by Ownership
Status of Major Fires on IDL Protection
IDL Incident Management Team Fires to Date
Status of Major Fires Outside IDL Protection
Statewide Fire Map
Fire Restriction Information
IDL's Fire Information News Feed
Fire Outlook

IDL Fire Situation

IDL Protection Only as of July 26

Total Acres Burned, Year to Date*	20,243 Acres
Total Number of Fires, Year to Date	179 Fires
Total Human-Caused Fires, Year to Date	65 Human-Caused 63 Undetermined 51 Natural

*Acres reflect what has burned within the IDL protection area and do not reflect ownership.

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IDL Fire Suppression Expenses

As of Monday, July 22, 2024, IDL has spent a total of approximately $16.9 million on fire suppression activities. Approximately $1 million of that is reimbursable to IDL for assisting other agencies on their fires, leaving a total estimated net obligation to the General Fund of $15.8 million so far this year.

The total obligation above includes the 2024 contracted aircraft costs and prepositioned contract engines to assist with resource scarcity. These engines are assigned across the state to boost initial attack resources.

Information on estimated fire suppression expenses incurred by U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other agencies in Idaho may not be available until after the fire season.

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Statewide Acres Burned by Ownership

SURFACE OWNER	ACRES
Idaho Department of Lands	3,738
Other State Lands	2,681
Private	5384
Bureau of Land Management	30,342
Forest Service	3,313
Other Federal	618
Tribe	0
Undetermined	4
Total Acres	46,080

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Current as of July 26, 2024

Status of Major Fires on IDL Protection

Gwen Fire/River Fire

Ponderosa Forest Protective District/Nez Perce Tribe

These two fires and additional smaller fires will be handled as one Complex Fire

Management: CIMT ordered, will be in-briefed Saturday evening

Date of Origin: Wednesday July 24, 2021

Gwen Fire Details:

Location: South of Juliaetta Idaho, about 30 miles outside Lewiston near State Highway 3 in Latah County

Acres: 2000 at last report

River Fire Details:

Location: East End of Arrow Highline Road, west of the town of Myrtle in Latah County along Clearwater River

Acres: 2000 at last report

Other fires in the area:
Cherry Fire
Rock Creek
Burnt Creek Fire
Steelhead Inn Fire

Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/inciden.../idids-2024-gwen-fire

Current Situation:

No news of additional evacuations issued overnight. An Incident Management Team is planned to be in-briefed on the fires tomorrow evening and coordination has already begun with Idaho Department of Lands. Multiple fires are likely to be combined into a single incident/complex to be handled by one IMT. No new information on acreage growth or structures lost at this time. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Many members of the community have reached out to assist others. Please feel welcome to comment on what help you can provide. Thank you for sharing pictures and videos. We would love to see more to help tell the fire story for the community and the firefighters working so hard to protect us.

Incident overview:

Multiple fires spread northeast of Lewiston, Idaho after huge lightning event Wednesday, July 24. Multiple structures were lost, entire town of Juliaetta evacuated. All-hands on deck wildfire response as heat of day/wind pushed fire yesterday.

Resources include: Fire crews, engines, dozers, water scoopers, air tankers, helicopters

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IDL Incident Management Team Fires to Date

Gwen Fire/River Fire

Ponderosa Forest Protective District/Nez Perce Tribe will transfer management to a single incident/complex IMT on Sunday, July 28.

Texas Fire

Ponderosa Forest Protective District transferred management to an Northern Rockies Team 8 on July 18. Management was transferred back to the district on Thursday, July 25. The fire is 1,565 acres with 90% containment.

Billy Creek Fire

Craig Mountain Forest Protective District transferred management to the Northern Rockies Team 1 (Brent Olson I.C.) on July 7. Management transferred back to the district on Friday, July 12. The fire was 100% contained at 3,185 acres.

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Status of Major Fires Outside IDL Protection

Bench Lake Fire

Agency/Management:	Great Basin Team 4 (Steve Shaw I.C.)
General Location:	8 miles south of Stanley, Idaho
Acres Burned:	2,595 acres
Cause:	Human
Containment:	58%
Personnel:	341
Inciweb:	https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idstf-bench-lake-fire

Thunder Fire

Agency/Management:	Salmon-Challis National Forest
General Location:	12 miles south, southwest of Salmon, ID
Acres Burned:	2,200 acres
Cause:	Lightning
Containment:	0%
Personnel:	40
Inciweb:	https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idscf-thunder-fire

Limepoint Fire

Agency/Management:	Payette National Forest
General Location:	1.5 miles to the west of Cuprum
Acres Burned:	1,000 acres
Cause:	Lightning
Containment:	0%
Personnel:	unknown
Inciweb:	https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idpaf-limepoint-fire

Sugar Fire

Agency/Management:	Boise District BLM
General Location:	18 miles northwest of Bruneau, Idaho
Acres Burned:	15,000 acres
Cause:	Lightning
Containment:	expected containment 7/26
Personnel:	unknown
Inciweb:

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Statewide Fire Map

This GIS-enabled Statewide Fire Map uses data from the Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) system. Unlike other online fire information webpages or databases, such as Inciweb, which may only report on incidents that threaten structures or cover large acreages, this fire map displays information about all reported wildfires in Idaho.

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Fire Restriction Information

IDL's Fire Restriction Finder webpage includes a GIS-enabled map that highlights fire restrictions announced by the responsible jurisdictions. It also includes helpful definitions of Stage 1 and 2 restrictions, along with answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Visit the Fire Restriction Finder Webpage

Fire Restrictions Currently in Place

Idaho has been divided into eight Fire Restriction Areas with zones established within. Each area corresponds with the fire dispatch area boundaries. Interagency coordination between fire management agencies with the areas are used to
initiate restrictions. This helps provide consistency among the land management partners, while defining the restriction boundaries so they are easily distinguishable to the public.

The purpose of fire restrictions is to reduce the risk of human-caused fires during unusually high fire danger and/or burning conditions, and when other prevention efforts have been exhausted.

The following areas are in Stage 1 fire restrictions that include all lands managed by or are under the fire protection of Idaho Department of Lands, Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, or other tribal or federal agencies.

Central Idaho - all zones

Cassia Zone - within the boundary of Sawtooth National Forest

North Sawtooth Zone - within the boundary of Sawtooth National Forest

Grangeville - all zones

Payette - all zones

Stage 1 restrictions prohibit:

Building, maintaining, attending to, or using a fire, campfire, charcoal grill or stove fire, except within a designated recreation site, and only within a fire structure provided by the administrative agency or landowner.
Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle, building or designated recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials.

Online Fire Restriction Resources

Visit IDL's Fire Restriction Finder webpage
Download the 2023 Idaho Fire Restrictions Plan (PDF, 143 pages)

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Fire Information News Feed

The Fire Information Newsfeed webpage displays the latest information about active wildfires within the more than 9 million acres protected by IDL, CPTPA and SITPA. The Fire Information News Feed automatically checks for updates published by IDL and the incident management teams managing fires on our protection every 60 seconds.

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Fire Outlook

Northern Rockies Coordination Center Outlooks (North Idaho):

https://gacc.nifc.gov/nrcc/predictive/weather/weather.htm

Great Basin Coordination Center Outlooks (Southern Idaho):

https://gacc.nifc.gov/gbcc/outlooks.php

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