Pre-evacuation of Ball Creek on Westside Road

BOUNDARY COUNTRY— There has been a pre-evacuation notification for north of Ball Creek on Westside road.

Previously there was a pre-evacuation notice on Kootenai Refuge and south of Ball Creek, now the notice of pre-evacuation includes the 10 homes on Ball Creek and Farnham Creek. The houses on Westside road are currently on the “Set” stage of the “Ready, Set, Go” evacuation planning stages. On these stages residents should plan where they will go for a few days if evacuated, to be packed and ready, to think about what evacuation route they will take, make sure their vehicles are fueled, and to have a plan for pets and livestock.

The Incident Management fire team is currently meeting and evaluating the fires, Boundary County Public Information Officer and Emergency Manager Andrew O’Neel told the Bonner Ferry Herald. Currently approximately 99% of the county fires are on U.S. Forestry Service land.

It is not yet confirmed if the fires have entered private timber land, he said.

The fires are currently managed by U.S.F.S leading the response and Idaho Department of Lands. IDL has jurisdiction on the other side of Westside Road.

Also supporting the fire efforts are local fire districts, North Bench Volunteer Fire Department and Hall Mountain Fire Department which are there to help and protect people and structures.

Update of fires Boundary County Fires. as of Sept. 3 at 10 a.m.

The Eneas Peak, Katka, Russell Mountain, Scotch Creek, and Trout Fires have officially been grouped into the Kootenai River Complex. The fire was last reported to be totalling 6,984 Acres.

Sept 1, a reconnaissance flight checked the status of existing fires. The Eneas Peak fire grew 178 acres; the Trout Fire grew 428 acres; the Russell Mountain fire grew 607 acres, and the Scotch fire grew 449 acres.

Fire managers continue to assess opportunities to utilize aviation resources to confine all four fires within the drainages and west of the private lands.

Closures: Due to fire suppression activities and active fires effect we advise that visitors avoid Ball Creek Road (FSR 432), Trout Creek Road (FSR 634), and trails. Impacted Trails include Russell Mountain (No. 12), Russell Ridge (No. 92), Ball & Pyramid Lakes (No. 43), Pyramid Pass Trail (No. 13), Pyramid Peak (No. 7), Fisher Peak (No. 27), and Trout Lake (No. 41).

The food fueled Firefighters through the next ten plus hours while they worked with their partners from Forestry Services and IDL patrolling the Westside Road area.

To sign up for Nixle text alerts from the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office text “83805” to the phone number 888777.

Boundary County Emergency Information Hotline is: 208-696-2626. Updates to any emergencies in the county, including evacuations and when it is safe to return from an evacuation, will be in a recorded message on this hotline. Put it in your contacts so you have it handy.

As a reminder, civilian drones are not allowed around active fires. Flying drones near an emergency scene is against the law and will interfere with firefighting aircraft, working against the firefighters on scene.