Progress reported on fire near Sun Valley
BOISE – A central Idaho wildfire that threatened the Sun Valley ski area and nearby million-dollar homes around Ketchum is being brought under control, a fire manager said Friday.
The lightning-caused Castle Rock fire burning west of Ketchum prompted the mandatory evacuations of about 2,500 homes in the past week, but residents have returned to all but about 100 homes.
“It’s looking really good,” fire information officer Tina Boehle said. “(Fire crews) have been very, very successful the last few days on this fire.”
The Castle Rock fire, which started Aug. 16, has scorched 72 square miles and is 66 percent contained. About 1,700 firefighters and managers are assigned to the blaze, including 19 helicopters, seven bulldozers and 113 engines, many of those protecting structures.
No structures had been lost, and there had been no serious injuries, Boehle said Friday.
The Castle Rock fire was one of seven wildfires burning in Idaho; in all, they have burned 1,220 square miles.
Another lightning-caused fire that started Thursday destroyed a cabin. By Friday, the Greys Creek fire, burning about 125 miles north of Boise, had grown to 11 square miles.
Jerry Kelly, fire information officer for Greys Creek, said more fire crews were en route to augment the 100 firefighters who first responded.
Boehle said about 60 firefighters from the Castle Rock fire were being sent to Greys Creek.
The north, south, and west flanks of the Castle Rock fire have been protected with firelines. Still, a small portion of the fire’s east side, burning on Bald Mountain near Ketchum, still poses a threat. Also, flames along Warm Springs Road within the fire’s perimeter could cause problems.
“If we can get by the next 24 hours, then the forecast becomes more favorable throughout the next week,” Don Smurthwaite, a spokesman for the Boise-based National Interagency Fire Center, said Friday, speaking about fire conditions in the West in general. “The days are getting shorter, and we’re seeing a gradual rise in relative humidity.
“We’re seeing some temperatures drop down to close to the freezing mark at higher elevations, so all of those are good signs.”
There are 32 large, active fires burning in the nation, about half of the number a week ago, Smurthwaite said.
Elsewhere in Idaho, the Cascade complex of fires burning about 16 miles northeast of Cascade remained the largest fire in the state. It has burned 380 square miles and was 26 percent contained.
The East Zone complex burning about 25 miles northeast of McCall had scorched about 340 square miles and was 10 percent contained. Residents of the towns of Secesh, Warren and South Fork remain under a voluntary evacuation.