If it’s not already clear from the smoke in the air, wildfire season has begun. Over the weekend several wildfires, including one in Stanley, have grown significantly in size.
The Bench Lake fire, in Stanley and the Sawtooth National Forest, started on July 11 around noon and although Idaho saw cooler temperatures on Sunday, the Bench Lake fire doubled in size over the weekend.
According to Lisa Wilkolak, National Park Service information officer, when it started, the fire was 40 acres.
On Sunday, the fire was 350 acres. By Monday morning, the fire grew to 738 acres. It’s currently 0% contained, although six engines, five crews, two planes and 211 people are fighting the fire.
The cause of the wildfire is still under investigation, Wilkolak said. Sawtooth National Recreation Area officials have closed Redfish Lake and all lodging, roads, trails and campgrounds in the area. Highway 75 was still open to the public as of Monday morning. Information on closures in the area is available online on the United States Department of Agriculture’s website.
Scooping planes are being utilized and have dropped over 370,000 gallons of water from Redfish Lake on the Bench Lake fire, Wilkolak said. Additional aerial resources have been ordered to come support the current crew’s efforts.
While it’s nearly impossible to predict where the wildfire will be in the coming days and weeks, the weather will likely get drier on Tuesday and thunderstorms could come to Stanley later in the week — both could impact the severity of the wildfire.
The DEQ’s real-time air quality monitoring dashboard listed the Treasure Valley’s air quality as yellow (moderate) on Monday afternoon.
According to Michael Toole, regional airshed coordinator from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, it’s fires in Oregon that are sending smoke through the Treasure Valley.
That includes the Cow Valley fire near Vale, Oregon, which has grown to 132,528 acres. According to a news release sent out on Monday morning, most of the fire’s growth happened near East Prong Dry Creek and was wind driven. The fire started on July 11 and grew dramatically because of the field sites, which is mostly dry juniper and brush, Alexa Valladolid from Northwest Team six said during an interview with the Idaho Press.
The fire’s perimeter is around 163 miles long, edging just south of the Malheur Reservoir, east of Brogan and Jamieson and north of Bully Creek Reservoir.
Since the number of wildland firefighters fighting the fire has increased, the threat to the local community has decreased significantly, the release said. According to Valladolid, the Oregon State Fire Marshal has several teams fighting the fire, including 362 individuals. There have been some evacuation orders in the Westfall community, Valladolid said.
More crews are currently being ordered to fight the fire, Valladolid said.
“We’re in the fire season, so everyone everywhere should just pay attention to how they’re using fire, if they’re using it, and how they’re recreating. Help us prevent human-caused wildfires,” Valladolid said.
According to the release, on Monday firefighters explored options on the southwestern edge and strengthened the fire lines around the perimeter of the fire, using tools and water to extinguish the flames.
The fire was human-caused but is still under investigation.
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