Featherville added to evacuation zone for Elk Complex Fire

Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The Pony Complex Fire in the western end of Elmore County, above, is slowing coming under control, but the Elk Complex Fire in the county's notheast remains dangerously erratic.

Elmore County Sheriff Rick Layher extended his evacuation order Tuesday afternoon to include the Featherville area.

A shelter for those evacuating from the Pine and Featherville areas due to the Elk Complex Fire was set up Tuesday evening by the Red Cross at the old Good Counsel Hall, 440 E. 8th North St.

Deputies and county search and rescue teams have been going door to door explaining the need to evacuate, although not all residents have done so. Those that leave, however, are not being allowed back into the area. The road is closed at the Highway 20 cutoffs to the Pine and Featherville areas.

Dave Aker, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, said the evacuation orders "are not taken lightly," but are designed to prevent firefighters from having to risk their lives to rescue civilians while also battling the fire. Several rescues have already been done as people stayed in an area too long and the fire rapidly overtook their positions.

Currently, the fire remains on the ridge just to the west of Pine and is advancing toward Featherville.

Federal wildland firefighters are creating fire breaks and conducting backburns to keep the fire from Pine, where no major structures have been lost so far. Structural firefighting teams from a dozen fire districts in southern Idaho, including a tanker, two brush trucks and 8-10 men from the Mountain Home department, are fighting to keep embers blowing off the main fire from catching any of the buildings in Pine on fire.

Fire behavior remains dangerously erratic with sustained crown runs and spotting distances of up to half a mile. The threat of blowing embers crossing the river and cutting the Featherville-Pine Road prompted the call for the evacuation of that mountain community Tuesday.

In the Pine-Featherville corridor, late afternoon inversions Tuesday reduced firefighters' and air operations' capabilities.

The Elk Complex Fire, the top priority fire in the nation, has burned more than 110,000 acres as of Wednesday morning. It is 10 percent contained and fire crews are attempting to direct it into the area burned by last year's Trinity Ridge Fire, where the lack of fuel should slow it down. Containment is predicted some time around Oct. 1, roughly when snow begins to fall in the mountains.

Meanwhile, deputies and forest officials were able to get into the Fall Creek area to begin assessing damage. Although the lodge and structures immediately surrounding it escaped the fire, the sheriff's office said that preliminary surveys have indicated that 53 structures were destroyed in the Fall Creek area, most in the area between the lodge and the Trinity recreation area, where one arm of the fire is heading. The Trinity lookout was evacuated Tuesday as the fire approached that area.

In addition, three boat docks were also were reported destroyed. Structure loss in Fall Creek will continue to be updated as more information becomes available from Elmore County Sheriff's Office. There was no official word yet on any structure losses in the Lester Creek area.

Access into any of the areas burned by the fire has been hampered by large trees down on the road and rockslides.

Power in the Pine-Featherville area has been out since Sunday afternoon and land-line phone service was lost Tuesday.

Areas of concern for firefighters Wednesday remain the small community of Prairie on the west side of the fire and the Pine/Featherville corridor on the east side.

The southern perimeter follows the South Fork of the Boise River from Smith Creek to the end of Anderson Ranch Reservoir near Pine. The fire continues to move up the river corridor on the west side from Pine towards Featherville.

The primary objective of firefighters is to secure the fireline between all homes/subdivisions and the mountains to the west.

The Pony Complex Fire, burning in the foothills north of I-84 between Mountain Home and Boise, is the number two priority fire in the nation.

As of Wednesday morning the fire had burned just under 145,000 acres and was 40 percent contained. The southern and western edges of the fire showed little fire activity. The dozer line along those perimeters is now being assessed for any suppression repair work to reduce erosion.

Black's Creek on the north end of the fire remains a holding point for fire managers and continues to be the most active area for smoke and flame.

Crews spent most of Tuesday securing line from Willow Creek down to Chicken Creek. Most of their work focused on a limited burnout operation around structures in the drainage.

The north end of the fire has had minimal fire activity, mostly interior burning well within the perimeter.

"Firefighters are doing exceptional work even though high temperatures make working conditions tough," a BLM spokesperson said.

Most of the areas leading into the mountains are now closed. Between the closures for the Pony and Elk Complex fires in Elmore County, and the nation's number three priority fire burning in Camas County, essentially everything north of the interstate and Highway 20 between Mayfield and Fairfield is closed.

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