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| The West Fork Fire in Montana looking into the Quartz side. This was taken September 2, and posted to Facebook by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. |
Public and firefighter safety is the highest priority during initial attack on any new fires.
With all the smoke throughout Boundary County, the sheriff's office is receiving countless calls from people with concerns of local fires.
As of 4 p.m. today, there are no wildfires burning within Boundary County!
However, there are fires in all directions, to include British Columbia.
The fire management team in Lincoln County, Montana, where several fires are burning, is preparing for a wind event expected Friday with wind gusts possibly between 20 and 25 miles per hour. While such wind could be devastating for areas that are burning, the wind should help blow the smoke out of the valleys and lift the current inversion.
The air quality alerts issued for the region earlier this week have been extended until noon Friday.
With very little to no precipitation and hot temperatures persisting, extreme fire danger subsists across the Idaho Panhandle.
Forecasted wind and lightning is expected to increase fire activity over the next several days. Visitors to the forest are asked to be exceptionally careful while recreating and hunting.
Firefighting resources are extremely limited as the wildfire season continues across the Northern Rockies.
The North Fork Hughes Fire (Priest Lake Ranger District) is at 3,520 acres. The fire crossed the Bench Creek drainage and is backing south near Hughes Meadows. Firefighters are staffing the 3.5 miles of sprinkler line along Hughes Fork and Jackson Creek. Trail and area closures are in effect.
The Buck Fire (St. Joe Ranger District) is 1,500 acres and is 10-percent contained. Crews are using heavy equipment to prepare a contingency line and prep Forest Service Road #322 and #201. Firefighters are working hard to minimize fire spread on to private industrial timber ground.
Both the North Fork Hughes and Buck Fires are burning in extremely steep, rugged terrain with heavy fuels and snag hazards. Fire managers continue full suppression tactics as they look for opportunities to engage safely. With the continued hot, dry weather and challenging terrain, public and firefighter safety is the top priority. Information is updated, under their respective names, at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/. If there are questions, please contact a public information officer at 208-557-8813.
Stage 2 fire restrictions remain in effect on all state, federal, and private forestland and rangeland in Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Shoshone, and Latah Counties. This also includes public lands in Washington and Montana that are administered by the Idaho Panhandle National Forests. For additional information, visit http://www.idahofireinfo.com/p/fire-restrictions.html.
For air quality information for Idaho, please visit http://www.deq.idaho.gov/air-quality/burning/current-wildfire-smoke-info/.
A number of dangerous fires are burning in Lincoln County, and many have been evacuated from their homes there.
The primary source of incident information for each fire Lincoln County Fire is on their respective InciWeb page. These are updated daily by the teams assigned to each fire. Fires currently active in Lincoln County are
Gibralter Ridge - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5474/#, Caribou - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5539/#, Moose Peak - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5592/#, Highway 200 Complex - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5583/, and the West Fork - https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5585/#.