By Matthew Evans
Idaho Falls Post Register (Idaho)
Copyright 2006 The Post Register
All Rights Reserved
It’s not quite over, but the 2006 fire season will go down as one of the busiest in recent memory — locally, statewide and nationally.
In eastern Idaho, 122 fires have scorched 310,663 acres. That’s almost seven times the acreage that burned a year ago.
It also mirrors what’s going on statewide, where 881,748 acres have been engulfed — up from 591,282 acres in 2005 — and nationally, where almost 9 million acres have burned.
The season traditionally ends in Idaho by mid-October, but it’s in its prime in California.
“We’re not done yet and we’ve already surpassed the previous record for acres burned in the U.S.,” said
Ken Frederick, spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. “It’s been a very long year for firefighters. Our smokejumpers exceeded the average number of jumps by the first of August.”
A lot of their time was spent in Texas, where 1.97 million acres burned.
The statistics in eastern Idaho are skewed by one blaze: the Crystal Fire, which charred 220,000 acres in August.
“It was one of those fires that we just couldn’t get in front of,” said Joanna Wilson, spokeswoman for the Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center.
Statewide, Frederick said, the busy fire year can be linked to a strong monsoon season in the southwest.
That led to rain and lightning here, he said, adding that much of the rain evaporated before it hit the ground, but the lightning didn’t.
“That’s like tossing lighted matches down to Earth,” Frederick said.
Eastern Idaho totals
846,523: gallons of retardant used
2,000: Number of firefighters in 2006
$6.53 million: Amount of money spent to battle three blazes, the Crystal, Rockland and Stone II fires.
65: Number of human-caused fires in 2006, including prescribed fires, which are set intentionally to reduce fuel for future fires
57: Lightning-caused fires in 2006
122: Number of fires reported in 2006
310,663: Number of acres that were charred in 2006
149: Average number of fires annually
53,693: Average number of acres burned per year
* Numbers collected by the Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center. The 7.5 million-acre area covered includes U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fort Hall Reservation, Idaho National Laboratory, state, private and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service land.
Targhee-Caribou National Forest
Fires: 31
Acres burned: 11,500
Notes: In 2005, 39 fires charred 2,780 acres. The five-year average is 65 fires and 1,734 acres burned. The 10-year average is 64 fires and 3,309 acres.
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Fires: 83 fires
Acres burned: 22,361
Notes: A year ago, 56 fires torched 653 acres. ""We’ve been below average the last two years,"" said Rod Dykehouse, of the forest’s fire staff. This year’s numbers are skewed by the fact that six fires were allowed to burn to reduce fuel for future fires, torching between 6,000 and 7,000 acres.
Salmon-Challis National Forest
Fires: 27
Acres burned: 88,242 (several fires were allowed to burn)
Notes: In 2005, 7,761 acres burned. ""This has been busier than our normal year,"" said Kent Fuellenbach, the forest’s public affairs officer.
Yellowstone and Teton National Parks
Fires: 28 (four are still alive)
Acres burned: 5,617 (4,247 in Yellowstone)
Notes: “Nature played us a good card,” Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said. “Go west, north or east of us and there were significant fires.”
Yellowstone averages 22 fires annually. Ninety percent of those don’t get bigger than an acre. In 2004, for example, 26 fires charred 185.5 acres. Sometimes the fires explode, though. Take 2003, when 77 burned 27,878 acres. Lisa Elenz, fire management officer for Grand Teton, said just six fires burned a total of 1.1 acres in 2005. “This is closer to the average than the last couple of years,” she said of the season.