New fire #IdahoFire
The Cape Horn fire near Bayview in Kootenai County #Idaho
(it's actually a few hours old, I've been in meetings all day...)
They should get this one pinned down this evening.
But holy hell, North Idaho already...
In all my 29 #IdahoFire years, I can recall one non-prescription fire being big enough or notable enough to be on my radar prior to Memorial Day weekend.
And, iirc, that was a late may fire a couple years ago.
Early April is insane.
This fire is now contained #IdahoFire
*EVACUATIONS ORDERED*
The Snake Fire near Rigby is an IA fire causing evacuations and power outages near Rigby, #Idaho
#IdahoFire
Other fires are reported in Madison and Jefferson Counties
Y’all.
It’s early April…
Shit-oh-dear. It's April. #IdahoFire
Time-lapse of the Sheep Creek Project prescribed fire over the last 5 hours from the Baldy AlertWest fire cam. #IdahoFire
INSANE seeing this heat on an early april fire near Salmon. But so glad we're reducing fuels in that area.
Big prescribed fire they've been working on for the last few weeks in/near Sheep Creek and below Stein Mountain LO. Last I saw, they were targeting 2,000 acres. which is good cause those drainages have insane fuel loads. #IdahoFire
I was asked if this snow helps our water year #IdahoFire
yes, 100%.
how much?
here's the data from one snotel site as an example, that red line is the worst year in the data, that black line is the current year data and that tiny bump at the end is this snow storm.
so.. not even a hill of beens
It’s April 1st. #IdahoFire
Today is the day we consider season snow water equivalent (SWE) snowpack numbers ‘final’ in terms of wildland fire impact.
I will not be posting a map or analysis of those numbers today as what I see is so absurd that one would think it’s an April fools joke.
And just to be clear, Republicans will be quick to say this won’t affect wildland fire.
Bull.
Shit.
#IdahoFire
As your resident #IdahoFire guy and former US Forest Service employee having worked both local forest (SCNF) and Washington Office HQ, I’ve witnessed countless USFS reorgs. Hell, I left during a republican reorg.
let me just say…
Fuck trump.
This isn’t a reorg, this is destruction.
Like I’ve been saying for weeks, now is an excellent time to invest in air filters. #IdahoFire
Even after seeing the lack of snow here in Idaho, and seeing Oregon’s dreadful numbers I was still shocked that we saw zero snow while exploring the cascades over spring break.
Looks like we've moved to the south-facing slope and are lighting a large area to burn upslope to the area burned yesterday.
Residents in Salmon are reporting seeing occasional tree torching and short crown runs.
Here is a recent AlertWest fire cam shot from Baldy.
#IdahoFire
2,000-ish acre prescribed fire near Sheep Creek north of North Fork, #Idaho
Here's a look at it from the AlertWest fire cam on Baldy above Salmon.
#IdahoFire
Periodic reminder that we have an #IdahoFire feed, you can grab the link to it (and find other local feeds) at blueskyidaho.com
And omg how sad I am that this is already relevant in March.
100-acre “Hall Gulch” initial attack fire southeast of Pine Cutoff HWY 20 IdahoFire.
This started yesterday, and I saw it on my ride last night but it wasn’t entered into the database until very late last night.
Sigh….
#IdahoFire
In Oregon and Idaho it’s WAY worse than anything in my 30 years of working in or covering #IdahoFire.
Snowpack is literally off the charts worse than any recorded year.
Been covering a lot of ground across Oregon and Idaho recently. And I just got back from a long ride in the hills at 6-7,000’
I have no words that begin to convey how bad this #IdahoFire season could be.
It’s not even April 1st and I see conditions I expect on June 1st.
Map of fire near Billings, MT
7,000 acre fire near Mount Rushmore
464,000 acre fire north of Sidney, Nebraska
🔥 Too damn early for this shit…
Early fires in Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and a half-million acre fire in western Nebraska
Pics from the 7k acre fire near Mt Rushmore look like July fire behavior.
And no seasonal fire fighters on staff right now.
It’s mid-march
We’re next… #IdahoFire
A part of me is hoping we have a dry spring. We don't need extra grass and fine fuels heading into summer... 😬
And a wet atmosphere this summer means Thunderstorms, which are more trouble than they're worth.
so, idk. maybe we should just commit to this drought till fall? #IdahoFire
This is a concern I have.
Just my opinion, but I’m fairly confident that our snow water numbers are actually worse than the snotel models are indicating.
hearing the same from fire folks around the west. We are in a horrible edge case year, mid & low elevation snow is non-existant #IdahoFire
Am I more optimistic about this #IdahoFire season with the recent snow?
No.
“It’s unfortunate that we are looking at these further reductions to the fire program when the fire threat and fire severity in the state is only getting worse,” Idaho Department of Lands Director Dustin Miller said. #idleg #idpol #Idahofire
#IdahoFire
1.2 million... That's unfortunate....
Starting with the '26 #idahofire season, Idaho Department of Lands will be forced to hire fewer seasonal firefighters in the Eastern Idaho Fire Protection District.
The irony: Because #idleg is cutting funding available to IDL, the state will likely have to pay someone else to fight those fires.
