Kootenai River Complex fire update Sept. 14
BOUNDARY COUNTY — Air quality has been poor in Bonners Ferry the past few days due to smoke from the Kootenai River Complex fires and large fires in the western United States.
The Type 2 Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 4 is in command of the fire prevention efforts. As of the morning of Sept. 14, the fires are estimated at 20,742 acres in size, with 79 percent completion and 369 personnel.
Due to printing deadline any fire updates for Thursday, Sept. 15 will run online at www.BonnersFerryHerald.com.
The incident management team officers wrote in a press release that Kootenai River Complex fires are still producing smoke, but that other fires are also impacting the air quality in much of Idaho, Washington and Montana.
Air quality is represented by the air quality index and includes several major air pollutants including particle pollution, or particulate matter and is the principal public health threat from wildfire smoke. AQI of “unhealthy” to “hazardous” indicates increased risk for health effects after breathing polluted air.
While respirator masks can be effective in reducing exposure to smoke particles, surgical masks, dust masks and bandanas do not offer protection from particle pollution, incident management team officials wrote. Air quality monitors can be viewed at https://fire.airnow.gov.
Smoke filled skies and light winds kept fire activity minimal throughout the day on Tuesday, officials said. The Katka and Russell Mountain Fires continue to burn as low intensity ground fire. Crews have thinned vegetation along Westside Road north of Trout Creek Road. On the east end of the Trout Creek Road, firefighters held the fire at the road so fire could back slowly downhill on the north side. South of Trout Creek Road to Ball Creek Road, crews continued to hold and suppress the fire as it reached the fireline and Westside Road.
The overnight infrared detection flight was able to fly over the fire area Tuesday night showing an increase in size of 1,034 acres.
Planned actions for Wednesday included, preparation to thin vegetation along parts of Westside Road. Officials said this is in preparation to make the roadside more defensible for when the fire reaches the area.
Crews continue to strengthen the fireline and run the pumps and sprinklers to make sure that the private structures are prepared for when the fire arrives. The fire is expected to continue backing downhill toward the Westside Road and fireline.
The Katka Fire will be monitored. Helicopters are available to be used for water delivery as needed however, smoke conditions might prevent flying like the past two days.
Tuesday morning Bonners Ferry and other parts of the county received rain. Thunderstorms took place in the morning.
Due to active fires and fire suppression activities, the Westside Road is restricted to residents-only. Additionally, the following National Forest Trails are now closed: Ball Creek Road (FR 432), Trout Creek Road (FR 634), Russell Mountain (No. 12), Russell Ridge (No. 92), Ball and Pyramid Lakes (No. 43), Pyramid Pass (No. 13), Pyramid Peak (No. 7), Fisher Peak (No. 27), Trout Lake (No. 41), McGinty Ridge (No. 143), Clifty Mountain and Clifty/Burrow (No. 182), Myrtle Peak Trail (No. 286), and Burton Peak Trail (No. 9).
Evacuations: There are NO Evacuations currently in place. However, those living on the Westside Road closest to Ball Creek, Burton Creek and Clark Creek have been placed in the SET fire evacuation status. SET is the stage of readiness before an actual evacuation takes place. Residents of Boundary County, Idaho can visit https://www.nixle.com or text their home zip code to 888777 to sign up for emergency alerts.
