Menu
Fire update tonight in Mountain Home; property owners from Elk fire area urged to attend
A town meeting on the Elk Complex Fire will be held in Mountain Home tonight, Thursday, Aug. 15, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Elk's Lodge.
Property owners affected by the fire are being encouraged to attend.
Representatives from the Incident Management Team, the Elmore County Sheriff's Department, Idaho Power and the American Red Cross will be in attendance.
The Elmore County Sheriff's Office hopes to soon complete it's mapping of the fire damage, in which more than 70 cabins, homes and other structures have been lost, the majority above the Fall Creek Lodge area.
The sheriff's office said some people have had it take hours to get through the limited phone lines that are operating in the area in order to ask for information, but the office asks that "if you are not the legal owner, do not call." Property owners can call 208-653-2505 for information or send e-mails to pineincidentcommand@gmail.com. Those who want to be placed on an e-mail update list should send an e-mail to that address.
Fire crews are slowly getting a handle on the still-dangerous Elk Complex and Pony Complex fires in Elmore County, which have burned more than 260,000 acres, combined.
As the threat began to lessen in the Pine area, where the fire had burned over the ridge above the town and to the back doors of a number of structures, firemen from the Mountain Home Fire Department returned home Wednesday after spending most of last week working throughout the day and night to stop embers from catching homes there on fire.
The effort to direct the Elk Complex fire using backfires and fire breaks appears to be working. Fire officials are considering beginning to withdraw some of the 600 firefighters that have been working the fire in the next few days in order to send them to other fires.
Friday will be a tentative date to have property owners from Fall Creek and Lester Creek to enter the Elk Complex Fire area under escort.
Owners will be asked to meet at the Anderson Dam turn off no later than 8 a.m. Owners will be escorted into the area and allowed a few hours to assess the damage. The access will be limited to property owners only and one vehicle per owner.
The sheriff has an e-mail system that will be used to notify owners of any changes or final decisions regarding Friday's event.
The Elk Complex Fire was estimated at 112,000 acres and is 25 percent contained. Fire activity was low to moderate most of the day.
Burnout operations were planned for Wednesday night from north of Pine to Dog Creek campground. Four Hotshot crews were scheduled to conduct the burnout, which "will reduce fuels under controlled conditions and hopefully reduce risk of spot fires across the Pine/Featherville Road or South Fork Boise River," fire officials said.
No major structures have been lost in Pine and fire crews have managed to keep the fire, which is advancing toward Featherville, from crossing the South Fork.
Fire crews are hoping to construct a fireline north from the Lava Mountain area and tie into the 2012 Trinity Ridge Fire scar.
The Pine/Featherville Road remains closed from Highway 20 to just north of Featherville. The communities of Pine and Featherville remain under evacuation orders.
The Pony Complex Fire on the western side of the county is now estimated at 148,000 acres and is 50 percent contained. On the north flank, the majority of fire activity remains in the Blacks Creek area. Crews today plan to hold and improve a line on the northwest side from Blacks Creek north toward the South Fork Boise River. All other flanks of the fire are showing little activity.
Some roads have re-opened in the area of the fires. The remaining road closures include Blacks Creek Road, Anderson Ranch Dam south on the Dixie Creek Cutoff to Highway 20, and Prairie Road/Cow Creek Road north from Highway 20. Mayfield Road is partially closed with no northbound traffic allowed from Blacks Creek.
The Boise National Forest has initiated a large area closure that extends roughly on the east side from: Road 181 to the junction with the Fairfield Ranger District, Sawtooth National Forest boundary, including the Pine/Featherville road; north from Atlanta along the Middle Fork Boise Road (Forest Road 268) over to the Deer Park Rental Cabin; then west along Forest Road 327 to Idaho City and Highway 21 on the west.
Additionally, the Trinity Lakes Recreation area is closed.
The Middle Fork Boise River Road is open from the Spring Shores Marina for residents of Twin Springs and Atlanta and only as long as fire conditions allow.
A Red Flag Warning is in effect beginning at noon today for the Boise National Forest and parts of the Payette and Sawtooth National Forests. The warning was issued in response to a predicted high Haines index, which measures the potential for dry, unstable air to contribute to the development of large or erratic wildland fires.