Ranger district, county answer fire questions

BONNERS FERRY — Community members have a number of questions surrounding the Kootenai River Complex fires.

Bonners Ferry Ranger District and Boundary County officials have answered the most common questions they have received regarding the fires. Questions were collected through community input, Andrew O’Neel, Boundary County public information officer, said.

Q: What is the fire status and are they out?

A: The Kootenai River Complex of wildfires, including the main Russell Mountain Fire, is still burning, but at a much lower intensity. The current strategy is still focused on protecting the homes, farms, private timber, and other “values” along the Westside Road. Over the last month, firefighters have built miles of fire control lines by hand and with heavy equipment to stop the fire as it approaches the Westside Road. It is slowly backing down the mountain and may or may not reach these control lines. When and if it does, firefighters will secure and cool the edge with water, hand tools and chainsaws.

A season-ending weather event, such as snow or rain will bring these fires to a close for the fall/winter. In the meantime, fire personnel will continue working in these areas and protecting homes, farms, private timber, and other values.

The Katka and Long Canyon fires are showing minimal fire behavior. Firefighters attempted to access these fires early on but were deterred by the steep, rugged terrain. Since there are no properties, infrastructure, or other values impacted, personnel will continue to watch these fires until a season ending weather event. Due to shorter days, cooler temperatures, increased humidity and higher fuel moistures, these fires are not expected to become active enough to warrant additional action. However, resources are available if needed.

Q: The first few weeks we saw a lot of action from the firefighters. Now we see very little action. Why aren’t they putting out the fires?

A: Fire behavior will be different periodically throughout a season. This is due to the number of hours sunlight hits a fire in a day, temperatures, relative humidity, winds, fuel moisture levels and amount of precipitation. The first few weeks of activity occurred when several of these factors aligned to cause more active fire behavior. At that time, fire managers were focused on defending the values located on Westside Road, including homes, farms and private timber. Firefighters created defensive features by digging control lines with bulldozers and hand tools, laying hoses, setting up water sources and pumps, and setting up sprinklers to defend houses. They also trimmed trees and cleared brush for miles along the road, then chipped the slash. A lot of hard work was done that put things in a good place.

The Russell Mountain Fire has been behaving as fire managers anticipated with their modeling and weather predictions. It has slowly come down the steep slopes into the control features where firefighters can actively engage, extinguish, and cool the fire’s edge. Aircraft have been used to cool hot spots where needed and support firefighters on the ground. Firefighters continue to patrol along Westside Road to ensure the fire stays west of the control features along the road, and west of the road itself.

Fire activity has diminished significantly from when it was at its peak. The days are shorter, and shade falls across these fires much earlier in the day than when they first started. Daytime temperatures are now in the 60s and 70s and drop significantly at night into the low- to mid-40s. Because of this, relative humidity recovery is good, which keeps the fires laid down longer into the day. Rain received at the end of last week also helped moderate fire behavior and increase fuel moisture levels. Much of the smoke that has been seen this past week is due to smoldering in the understory rather than active flames.

Firefighter activity and personnel numbers are driven by fire activity. As handline, dozer line and fuel breaks are completed, some resources are demobilized. Other resources, like engine crews, will remain in place to patrol and extinguish the fire if and when it comes to the control lines. The number of personnel needed will continue to be adjusted based on firefighting and support needs.

Q: Why weren’t these fires put out when they started? Wouldn’t it be easier if they just dropped water on the fires when they are small?

A: When these fires started due to lighting in mid-August, there were far more fires in this area and many in the region were caught and extinguished during the initial attack. While firefighters work hard to keep acreages small and get fires out quickly, various factors may cause a fire to go into an extended attack situation, including weather, terrain, location and availability of resources.

Firefighter safety is always the highest priority when determining firefighting strategies. One of the things considered when determining firefighting tactics is the amount of time it will take to evacuate someone if they are injured. In most instances on this Complex of fires, the evacuation time was determined to be six hours or more when they started. Burning in steep, rugged terrain made it dangerous to insert firefighters. Therefore, fire managers weighed the benefits versus the risks of putting firefighters in these places. Sometimes, the best action is to monitor the fires until safe direct tactics can be employed, or a season-ending weather event occurs. Looking at local historic weather conditions for this time of year, these fires normally would have been extinguished by seasonal rain by now, but we are seeing an unusual dry spell without much precipitation.

Fixed wing aircraft and helicopters are critical tools in the firefighting arsenal. Yet, there are instances where they aren’t effective. Success depends on many factors including weather, fire behavior, fuels, terrain and vegetation types, and water drops and retardant don’t usually extinguish the fire. Typically, air resources are most effective when there are firefighters on the ground to direct and then reinforce water or retardant drops. Water is used to cool a fire’s edge and allow firefighters on the ground to dig line or fight it directly. Retardant is used to slow the fire, act as a temporary barrier, and buy firefighters time to do the same.

In some instances, water and retardant drops are ineffective because the forest canopy prevents the water or retardant from reaching the fire below. In extreme heat, water may evaporate before it reaches the ground, although it can still raise humidity levels. For these reasons, using air resources may not be the best firefighting strategy for a given situation.

Additionally, air resources must be prioritized, which can mean competing for them with other fires throughout the region and nation. Fires with homes, businesses, crops, private timber, and other values immediately at risk will typically receive priority over those burning in areas where little is threatened. Aircraft are assigned to where they are needed most, and aircraft priorities are set by the Coeur d’Alene Dispatch Center as part of the Northern Rockies Coordination Group. The large number of fires being fought this season can be seen on the map at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/.

Q: What is the cost of the fire to-date and what are the various expenses?

A: As of Sunday, Oct. 3, the total cost of fighting the Kootenai River Complex fires was $12.8 million.

Q: What happens to the displaced wildlife?

A: Wildlife are fire adaptive. Typically, they move to other parts of the forest during a fire, and then are later attracted to return to the area because of the newly opened spaces and new growth.

Will someone plant new seedlings to give the forests a head start and reduce the likelihood of erosion?

A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team will assess the burned areas to determine post-fire recovery needs. The BAER team looks at water and soil impacts, erosion potential, vegetation issues, archaeology and more to decide what needs to be done to help the forests recover. However, these forests are fire-adapted ecosystems and naturally very efficient at recovery. In fact, many forest ecological processes need fire.

In many areas, the fire stayed in the understory and there will be good tree recovery. Much of the fires burned in roadless areas where they had a positive effect by clearing out heavy underbrush, creating new wildlife corridors, and stimulating new growth. It is likely that the first areas burned in mid-August by the Eneas Peak Fire are already recovering with new vegetation growth. Elk, deer and moose are drawn to fire areas the following year where new grass grows, and morels will be abundant next spring.

Q: Will the equipment and hand lines be repaired by or on my property?

A: A fire suppression repair plan has been identified that addresses standards to repair firelines, both on public land and private property. As that point is reached and hose lay and pumps are removed, fire managers will work with property owners to determine the level of repair work to be done. For example, some homeowners may want to leave the fireline in place and this is OK.

Q: Will the roads and trails be opened for hunting season?

A: The affected fire area will be evaluated for firefighter and public safety in areas of access and where the most severe and intense fire effects have occurred. It is likely these areas, such as Trout and Ball Creek roads, will be closed for the remainder of fall, winter and potentially spring. The Bonners Ferry Ranger District will provide news releases and provide information on the opening or continued closures of these routes.

Q: When will the county fairgrounds be available for residents to use again?

A: The Type 2 Eastern Area Incident Management Team handed over management of the Kootenai River Complex fires to a Type 3 Bonners Ferry Ranger District incident management organization on Saturday, Oct. 1. The fairgrounds are no longer being used as a fire camp and have resumed normal use.