Weekly Fire Update
As of today, IDL has no major fires burning under its protection.
As of Monday, August 11, 2025, IDL has spent a total of approximately $18.6 million on fire suppression activities. Approximately $4.7 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 $13.9 million so far this year.
 As of Aug. 12
Fire Restrictions Currently in Place
Pulaski Trail Hike
On the morning of July 30th, the Director, State Forester Julia Lauch, and Aviation Program Manager Corrie Ivey, joined Fire Warden Chris Myers and the IDL Cataldo fire crew on a hike up the historic Pulaski Trail.
This four-mile round-trip trek up Placer Creek, just outside Wallace, leads to a powerful site of wildland fire history. It was here, almost exactly 115 years ago during the devastating fires of 1910, that U.S. Forest Service ranger Ed Pulaski saved the majority of his crew by leading them into a mine tunnel as flames closed in around them. The site holds deep meaning for the wildland fire community, and many firefighters visit it as a place of reflection and respect.
The 1910 fires and the heroic actions of rangers like Pulaski, played a pivotal role in shaping federal forest management and wildland fire policy, laying the foundation for the modern wildland firefighter. Pulaski is also credited with inventing the iconic firefighting tool that still bears his name and remains essential on the fireline today.
photos by Dustin Miller
  Pulaski tunnel
Capital for a Day - Orofino
Director Miller, Jay Sila, Dave Schwartz and C-PTPA fire warden Kane Steinbruecker joined the Governor at Capital for a Day in Orofino on July 24.
In the heart of Idaho’s logging country, many questions were directed at the department regarding timber harvest, road access, slash compliance and fire suppression. The Capital for a Day event provides a great opportunity for residents in rural parts of the state to have direct access to the Governor and State officials, which is why the Governor places a high priority on this event. IDL maintains a large presence in Clearwater County, so solid relationships with citizens, elected officials and industry partners in the area are critical.
IDL in Clearwater County
- 118,000 acres of endowment trust land.
- $305,298 distributed to Orofino School District in fiscal year (FY) 2024.
- $13,545,568 generated from grazing leases and timber sales in FY24, benefiting Idahoans for generations to come.
- 21 staff, seasonal and permanent.
photos courtesy of Joan Varsek
 Governor Little speaking at the Orofino Capital for a Day
 Governor Little listening to a question from the public at the Orofino Capital for a Day
10-year Anniversary of the Clearwater Complex
On August 10, 2015, a major lightning storm hit the Grangeville Dispatch Zone leading to over 200 smoke reports. More than 150 of those were confirmed fires.
Twenty-one of the fires covered about 2,000 acres between Kamiah and Orofino and made up the Lawyer Complex.
Clearwater Complex which was the largest and most expensive fire group in the state that season. It was made up of the Lawyers Complex, Lolo, Municipal, Woodrat and Fisher Fires.
These multiple fires either merged or burned close together, resulting in 68,127 acres burned and an estimated $20.4 million in costs. It destroyed 48 homes and 70 other buildings within this complex.
 Clearwater Complex at night, photo by Tom Schultz 2015
Flag of hope after the fire in Kamiah, photo by Sharla Arledge 2015
10-year Anniversary of Idaho Oil/Gas Production
August 1, 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of the commencement of operations for the Highway 30 Gas Processing facility in Payette County and the beginning of full production and sales of hydrocarbons from Idaho. The state “officially” became the 34th producing state when test volumes of hydrocarbon liquids from the ML Investments #1-10 well were sold in February of 2013.
Since that time the plant has generated 19.2 billion cubic feet (BCF) of residue gas, 513 thousand barrels of condensate (BC) and 22.4 million gallons of natural gas liquids from 21.1 BCF wet gas production and 450 thousand BC production from Willow and Harmon fields. Sales of this production have generated over 2.6 million dollars in severance tax revenue to the state of Idaho. Of that amount, nearly 1.6 million dollars has gone to the Idaho Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to administer Idaho’s oil and gas regulatory program.
 Staff from Idaho Department of Lands and Northwest Gas Processing LLC, photo by Sharla Arledge 2015tour the Highway 30 Gas Processing facilities in Payette County just prior to the commencement of full production in August of 2015.
Governor Little Visits the Coeur d'Alene Fire Cache
On July 30, the Governor made a visit to the Coeur d'Alene Fire Cache. Cache Manager Bjorn Jordan provided the tour and gave an update on the work they are accomplishing this fire season.
Here is some of the information Bjorn shared with the Governor.
The Fire cache was built in 1974/75 due to the shutdown of multiple warehouses in Spokane, and the shop was created due to the closure of two shops in CD’A and the expansion of repair facilities.
This season the cache has:
- 13 full time employees and 32 seasonals
- a cache inventory of $15 million
- supported 116 incidents to date
- issued $5.4 million of supplies to date
- 51,994 items have been shipped since early May
The shop has:
- built 12 engines since FY23, with 12 more stated to be built FY26-FY27
- 1800 pieces of equipment are maintained and serviced
- new since May 2025 - equipment is tracked through the Interagency Cache Logistics Inventory Program (ICLIP) database.
photos courtesy Joan Varsek
 Governor Little with IDL staff at the Coeur d'Alene Fire Cache tour
 Governor is a Stihl Man. The governor is holding a refurbished chainsaw from our small-engine repair shop.
 Governor and Bjorn Jordan discussing the process of purchasing and acquiring a cab and chassis, and the workload associated with building all the components into the IDL Fire Engine.
 Governor, Josh, and Bjorn sharing light humor. Discussions proceeded the photo with questions about the fabrication of bumper, baskets, radio console, and other items that the shop employees perform to get an IDL engine fire ready, and the cost savings of doing such work in-house versus buying items from vendors.
 Governor, Andrew Silveria ( Shop Fabricator), and Mike Slack (Mechanic) posing for a picture after discussions of the shop’s future workload, building of the engines, and several other related tasks/jobs they do during fire season.
Kootenai Valley at the Boundary County Fair
The Kootenai Valley IDL office participated in Boundary County Fair in Bonners Ferry, August 5-9. Staff engaged with the public at the IDL booth, the Boundary County Fire Prevention Co-Op booth and the parade. An IDL wildland fire engine was also on exhibit.
KV staff were present throughout the four-day event to answer questions, educate and provide resource materials to the public.The IDL booth offered materials on fire suppression, fire prevention, forest health, forest management, information about the endowments, and more. Interactions with the public included discussions on local wildfires, scaling practices, tree identification, forest management on endowment lands and more. There was also opportunity to schedule landowner site visits for forest health and wildfire defensible space.
KV firefighters participated in the Boundary County Wildfire Prevention Co-Op booth promoting the program and providing information on interagency fire response, safety, and fire prevention. The Co-Op booth utilized a safety trailer to teach how to properly evacuate a building during a fire. There was also a hose deployment and PPE obstacle course for kids and adults giving them a chance to try out firefighting equipment and spray water.
The Boundary County fair was a successful event, and the booths and parade were a great avenue to engage with the public and to demonstrate how IDL serves the community and state.
 IDL Booth: Jason Wilkerson, PFS and Jasmine Chowning, Resource Foreman-Fire
 Fair Parade: Ethan Hamilton and Smokey Bear with Engine 2151
In Case You Missed It
Here's a recap of other recent IDL newsletters you may find interesting:
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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