Sawtooth Lodge misses out on peak tourism season due to Wapiti Fire

The Wapiti and the Bull Trout Fires started on July 24 in the Boise National Forest, both fires were caused by lightning. The Wapiti Fire forced evacuations at Grandjean.

Grandjean is the closest access point to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area from Boise. Granjean also features the Sawtooth Lodge where people can stay in cabins, yurts or grab a burger and a beer after a long day of hiking.

“We are trying to keep spirits up," said Jesse Buhler of the Sawtooth Lodge. "Candidly, it’s been kind of devastating obviously this is our peak season and we have had to make some tough decisions. Monday I cut all the staff and it is just a bummer."

Grandjean was evacuated on July 25 as the Sawtooth Lodge will be closed for the third weekend in a row. Jesse will meet with the Boise National Forest on Monday for an update.

"I can’t thank them enough for all the hard work that they have done, it is truly appreciated," said Buhler.

The Wapiti Fire has burned 740 acres with zero containment, but a big reason for that is the fire is burning way up on the ridge in place that's not accessible for firefighters.

"We are trying to be patient with this and wait for it to come down into an area where we can pick it up," said Greg Jackson with Great Basin Team 7. "We do have a burn plan if necessary."

Firefighters have spent time fortifying the lodge and summer homes. They have built hand lines and set up hoses with sprinklers in case the fire does come down the mountain.

"We started all the sprinkler systems near all the structures and tested our lines for about four hours yesterday," said Jackson.
"We made adjustments to the sprinklers to make sure none of those hoses needed to be repaired and we feel we have good protections around the structures."

Jesse Buhler appreciates the effort of the Boise National Forest and Great Basin Team 7. He also appreciates the patients from people who had to cancel, they received full refunds. However, he also can't wait to welcome people back whenever that happens.

"We have a lot to offer and obviously we have great milk shakes," said Buhler. "We have great food a lot of people are sleeping on our food and then they come back here and they are like oh, we will be back."

Firefighters have made significant progress on the Bull Trout Fire that is burning north on Highway 21 past Avalanche Alley on the west side of the road. They have that fire that 65 percent contained.