TODD DVORAK Associated Press writer | Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:00 am
BOISE, Idaho - Federal wildfire managers issued more bad news for crews battling blazes across bone-dry forests in Idaho and Montana on Wednesday: The weather is in no mood to lend a helping hand.
A low pressure system bringing high temperatures, wind gusts and thunderstorms with little promise of actual rainfall are predicted to sweep across Idaho's smoky midsection and into Montana over the next five days, said Robyn Heffernen, a fire weather expert at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
"In the near term, things aren't looking too good," said Heffernen, who echoed predictions of others that the fire season could stretch into November. "These storms aren't carrying a lot of rain. And then the storms are going to be followed by wind, which is a bad combination."
Across Idaho, hundreds of homes remain threatened by 19 large wildfires that have scorched more than 611,000 acres, or 954 square miles, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Conditions aren't much better in Montana. At least 15 large fires are burning across about 604 square miles, mostly in the state's western half.
Residents of a southern Montana subdivision who fled a fast-moving wildfire were told they could return home briefly Wednesday amid a break in wind. The fire tore through the subdivision Tuesday evening, but did not destroy any homes and was 75 percent contained.
Residents in the Seeley Lake area in western Montana were allowed to return home Wednesday, ending a 10-day evacuation of more than 600 homes. A state highway also reopened, but other areas remained closed and officials were struggling to contain the Jocko Lakes fire, which has burned about 34 square miles.
Fires north and southeast of Missoula forced new evacuation orders for close to 100 homes Tuesday night and temporarily closed part of a federal highway.
An added challenge for fire managers and law enforcement in Idaho is getting residents whose homes, ranches and businesses are threatened by fires to pack up and leave.
This week, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter issued an order granting the Valley County Sheriff the authority to remove holdouts deemed to be in imminent danger or a hindrance to fire operations.
The order targeted residents in the small, historic mining town of Yellow Pine, surrounded by the Boise and Payette National Forests and the 88 square-mile Landmark Complex of fires.
A convoy helped more than two dozen residents evacuate Tuesday. But Valley County Sheriff Patti Bolen says about three dozen residents, ranchers and business owners are ignoring warnings to get out, choosing instead to stay behind to protect their homes, stores, bars or livestock.
On Wednesday, firefighters escorted two lodge owners into and back out of the Warm Lake area to set up generators to keep food from spoiling. Idaho Power also delivered a portable generator to provide power to the holdouts, who have been without electricity since Sunday.
"They're fairly independent-minded people," said Capt. John Coombs, one of two deputies dispatched this week to persuade residents to evacuate. "They've lived through fires before."
Sheriff's officers also asked holdouts to sign waivers of liability and provide deputies with the names of next of kin.
Some residents have voluntarily left homes around the central Idaho town of Warm Lake in the Boise National Forest, as well as the communities of Secesh, Warren and South Fork in the Payette National Forest. Those communities are still at risk from the East Zone Complex of fires, which grew Tuesday to 260 square miles, said spokeswoman Kris Eriksen.
The Zena Loon fire, the biggest of the complex's fires, now spread across 173 square miles, destroyed two unoccupied cabins and two outbuildings away from the towns.
Even though Warren remains surrounded by fires, Eriksen said fire managers are hopeful the worst is behind them.
"Our critical fire days are behind us," she said. "The threat isn't over, but our structure protection is good. We're feeling pretty good about the progress being made."
In southern Idaho, crews battled the Cow Creek fire, spanning more than eight square miles along rangeland, foothills and mountains about 13 miles west of Fairfield. Investigators said the fire was started Saturday by citizens conducting a burn to clear dead vegetation.
Officials said strong winds have fueled the blaze into areas of challenging terrain for fire crews. The fire is sending a blanket of smoke across the Wood River Valley, threatening ranch property and closing in on state land designated for timber sales with an estimated value of $10 million, officials said.
"This is why we urge the public to limit the use of open burning," said Chris Simonson, fire management officer for the Twin Falls District of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.