Fire spanning 118,000 acres leads to smoke-filled skies, evacuations

Initial air quality forecasts for this week predicted moderate conditions for the Treasure Valley, but a new wildfire in Gem, Payette and Washington counties changed that.

The Paddock Fire, which was started by lightning Monday night, encompasses more than 118,000 acres north of Ada and Canyon counties and, as of Thursday afternoon, was 5 percent contained.

“Right now it’s spreading to the east, the south and the west,” said fire information officer Chad Cline of the Bureau of Land Management’s Boise District.

Much of the blaze’s smoke is coming down to the Treasure Valley, contributing to the region’s current Unhealthy rating on the Air Quality Index (AQI), signified by the color red. Before the fire started, conditions were forecast to be moderate for the rest of the week.

“We have had some significant deterioration from what we saw a few days ago,” Idaho Department of Environmental Quality regional airshed coordinator Michael Toole said. “We have had a couple hourlies in the purple [Very Unhealthy]. We’ve been consistently red in the Garden City, Boise area.”

Projections through the weekend indicate daily red ratings for the next three days, while hourly color ratings may fluctuate across locations.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a rainbow roller coaster,” Toole said. “I know we’re going to have hourlies in the yellow [Moderate], the orange [Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups], the red. We could even have hourlies in the purple, depending on how the smoke stacks up overnight.”

Initially under the purview of the Bureau of Land Management, fire mitigation efforts are now controlled by a Type 3 Incident Management Team from Nevada.

The Gem, Payette and Washington county sheriff’s offices have implemented “Ready, Set, Go” evacuation notices, with residents in affected areas urged to evacuate or prepare to do so, depending on the level. The latest information can be found on the Facebook pages for each county sheriff’s office.