Fire Update Sunday July 16, 2000

Salmon, Idaho – The Fernster Fire five miles north of Salmon has increased in size to roughly 3,500 acres on Saturday.Although this is the same acreage figure announced yesterday, it is an accurate estimate.The fire is most active on the north and south sides.The fire is thirty percent contained.

The perimeters of the fire are the Salmon River on the east, one-half mile north of Diamond Creek on the north, the Stormy Peak Road on the west and one-half mile south of Wallace Creek on the south.

The highest priority for the fire is protecting the south flank.Most resources have been put there in an effort to keep the fire away from Salmon.Hand crews are establishing a fire line there and helicopters are dropping 80 – 250 gallons of water from buckets on the hottest spots.

Approximately 240 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to this fire.

The Clear Creek Fire that began on Monday July 10 from lightning was estimated to be 25,000 acres early Sunday.This fire grew from 1,000 acres early Friday to roughly 23,000 acres Friday evening.There are fourteen fire engines, 400 people and five helicopters assigned to this fire.

Clear Creek Fire From Challis, Idaho 7/14/00 *Click for full size*

Structure protection along lower Panther Creek is still the highest priority on the fire and has been highly successful with only one out-building burned.The fire is most active along the north east flank and has burned down to the Salmon River in one location.Helicopters are doing water-bucket drops there.

Poor visibility from the smoke has made it very difficult to see what the fire is doing, or exactly where it has burned.The poor visibility has hampered firefighting efforts.Infared mapping was done on the fire Saturday night to determine the perimeters and hottest spots of the fire.

The River Road is open with restrictions.Only float boaters with permits, shuttle drivers associated with the Middle Fork River permitted rafters, logging traffic and private land owners are being allowed access down the road.Pilot cars, in contact with fire dispatch, are leading groups beyond Pine Creek.The restrictions were implemented as a safety precaution due to the unpredictablity of the fire’s behavior at this time.

There will be further updates as more information becomes available. For fire information please call: 208-756-5473.

Information on these fires has been posted on the Salmon-Challis National Forest web page.You can access this web page on the Internet at www.fs.fed.us/r4/sc/fire.

###