No evacuations yet on Kootenai River Complex fires
A helicopter dumps water on one of the fires on Boundary County over the weekend.
Photo courtesy of JIM HOWES
BOUNDARY COUNTY — The large number of wildfires in the county — and resultant threat to structures in Katka Peak and Scotch Creek — prompted Boundary County commissioners to declare a state of emergency on Friday, Sept. 2.
The fires potentially threaten public safety, structures, private timber, livestock and crops, the commissioners said in approving the emergency declaration.
A Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team has taken over management of the Kootenai River Complex fires on Sunday, Sept. 4. The Kootenai River Complex consists of The Eneas Peak Fire, the Trout Fire, the Russell Mountain Fire, the Scotch Fire and the Katka Fire.
There are currently no evacuations in place in Boundary County in response to the Kootenai River Complex fires.
As a precaution, the following “Ready, Set, GO!” pre-evacuation preparations are in place:
“Set” — Westside Road from the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge north to Farnham Creek, has been advised to be in the “Set” stage of evacuation preparation, to evacuate immediately if it becomes necessary due to the Scotch and Russell Mountain fires.
“Ready” — Westside Road north of Farnham Creek to Kerr Lake Road has been advised to be in the “Ready” stage of evacuation to begin evacuation planning for their families, pets and livestock due to the Eneas Peak Fire.
“Ready” — Katka Road up from the lookout area, Two-Tail Road, and Misty Mountain Road have been advised to be in the “Ready” stage of evacuation to begin evacuation planning for their families, pets and livestock due to the Katka Fire.
In addition, access to Westside Road traffic is being limited to residents of Westside Road for public and firefighter safety. Non-resident traffic will interfere with the numerous structure protection and firefighting activities occurring along the road and could hinder any evacuation operations, should they occur.
Officials said the two best things residents can do to receive official notifications quickly are to sign up for Nixle text alerts by texting 83805 to 888777, and to continue to monitor local information sources.
Current evacuation status information is also available in a recorded message on the Boundary County Emergency Information Line at 208-696-BOCO (2626).
Updates to evacuation preparedness stages will also be posted on the Boundary County Emergency Management/PIO Facebook page.
To obtain an electronic copy of the Boundary County Ready, Set, Go! Evacuation planning brochure, go online to boundarycountyid.org.
Boundary County officials said area residents may have seen several fields being burned by private landowners on the east side of the Kootenai River over the weekend and earlier this week. These field burns have been coordinated with the U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands as a preemptive measure to reduce available fuels in the valley, Andrew O'Neel, Boundary County Office of Emergency Management/PIO, said in a press release.
Pre-burning of available fuels will reduce the likelihood of spot fires starting in the river valley from embers that may originate from the Kootenai River Complex fires. The field burns will occur in irrigation districts 4, 5 and 6 in the Kootenai River Valley. The four fires in the Kootenai River Complex, currently burning in the Selkirk range, have not crossed into the valley and are still located west of Westside Road. Columns of smoke seen after 1 p.m. on the east side of the Kootenai River are prescribed burns and do not require an emergency call.
Kootenai River Complex fires has been reported to be 13,705 acres.
Closures: Due to fire suppression activities and active fires, 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 10-plus hours while they worked with their partners from Forestry Services and IDL patrolling the Westside Road area.
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.