By Alex Stuckey
The Idaho Falls Post Register
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Federal agencies have spent an estimated $55.5 million fighting the three fires — Mustang Complex, Trinity Ridge and Halstead — that have combined to torch more than 466,000 acres.
And with fire season only halfway over, it seems it won’t be man that stops this year’s fires, but winter’s first snow.
All told, the fires searing through Idaho have surpassed 1.1 million acres, or about 1,700 square miles. That’s about 200 square miles larger than Rhode Island.
It’s the largest fire season since 2007, when 2.3 million acres burned statewide, said Emily Anderson, Idaho Department of Lands spokeswoman.
But with a fire season that could reach well into October, this year’s fires could surpass that acreage, Anderson said.
“We’ve been on a trend toward increasing fires and increasing severities for quite some time,” said Adam Sowards, a University of Idaho professor. “That is a result of not just the drought and climate change, but also because of fire suppression.”
State fire officials don’t see it coming to an end any time soon.
“The bigger the fire gets, the longer it goes, (it) just increases in multitude,” said Jennifer Jones, spokeswoman for the Forest Service’s National Interagency Fire Center in Boise.
About $55.5 million has been spent fighting the three big fires in Idaho across various agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.
Congress appropriated about $2.29 billion to the U.S. Forest Service this year to train for, and fight, such fires, said Lynn Ballard, Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center spokesman.
Ballard said the amount of money appropriated across the nation purely for fire suppression — $448 million in 2012 — is tapped into by all states when they need it.
If the budget for the Forest Service’s fight against wildfires is depleted, officials can tap into other monies in the service’s budget, which the forest service has started to do this year, he said.
The Bureau of Land Management could not provide budget information by press time.
Mustang Complex
The red and orange flames associated with the Mustang Complex fire have charred more than 205,000 acres, scorching a path through timber on the northern end of the Salmon-Challis National Forest. To date, federal agencies have spent $13 million fighting it.
Fifty-nine fire engines, 800 people and two helicopters are working to extinguish the ever-growing blaze, according to the fire center.
The fire is 11 percent contained, and evacuation notices have been issued for Hull, Hughes and Sheep creeks. Residents in the U.S. Highway 93 corridor between Copper Gulch and Sheep Creek and the Highway 93 corridor just north of Sheep Creek through the Lost Trail Pass and along Dahlonega Road for Gibbonsville are also on alert.
The fire is in steep, inaccessible terrain, making firefighting difficult.
Officials hope to have the fire contained by Sept. 30.
Firefighters and other personnel hope to suppress the fire and prevent loss of homes, businesses and natural resources, according to the fire center.
Halstead
Lightning struck July 27 in an area of the Salmon-Challis National Forest, incinerating nearly 117,000 acres of timber.
Beetles had previously killed many of the trees that went up in smoke.
Federal agencies have spent $15.5 million fighting the fire, which is now 7 percent contained.
About 550 personnel, 35 fire engines and seven helicopters are working to extinguish the fire.
Officials estimate the fire will be contained Oct. 16.
Firefighters and other personnel will work to keep the fire from spreading onto private land in the Valley Creek area and hope to complete burnouts in the coming days, weather permitting. Another goal is to keep the fire from crossing state Highway 75 or the Salmon River, according to the Incident Information System.
Trinity Ridge
On Aug. 3, a utility vehicle ignited a blaze that has burned 144,000 acres across the Boise National Forest. Since the fire began just a month ago, 12 structures have been torched, including four Forest Service cabins and four outbuildings.
Federal agencies have spent $27.4 million fighting the blaze with more than 1,200 personnel, 66 fire engines and nine helicopters.
Residents of Pine and Featherville have been evacuated, and officials estimate the fire will be contained Oct. 1.
Firefighters and other personnel plan to complete a series of burnouts from Forest Road 357 to Rabbit Creek Summit and south to Thorn Creek Butte. They are also trying to contain the 30-acre spot fire north of the North Fork of the Boise River.
Despite efforts to control the fires, Anderson said this season’s fires will only continue to burn until the snow flies.
“There will absolutely be more fires before October,” Anderson said. “This has absolutely been a more active fire season than the past three years.”
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