Firefighters Battle Tubbs Hill Hot Spots

Firefighters spent Sunday dousing 18 hot spots from Saturday’s Tubbs Hill fire as well as a new blaze started by children trying to torch an anthill.

Although the fires weren’t serious threats, the recent parching of North Idaho has officials praying for rain.

“Everything’s just as dry as popcorn now, so when it goes, it’s really gonna go,” said city fire Lt. Paul Fromm.

City crews returned to Tubbs Hill at 9 a.m. to find a dozen small fires, blazes that were missed Saturday because they were in rocky crannies or in tree root systems. Six more fires were found in the afternoon.

“Those hot spots can recur for weeks, but more than likely they’ll be out in a few days,” said Capt. Ken Good.

That blaze burned an acre of timber on Saturday. It was quenched by a water-bombing helicopter and 30 firefighters from Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Kootenai County and the Department of Lands.

The second fire, fueled by the dry anthill and some abandoned, bundled Christmas trees, started in a field at 125 W. Dalton and burned up an eighth of an acre from 10 a.m. to 11:30.

“It was kids playing with a lighter, trying to kill ants. Just playing. And it got out of hand,” Fromm said.

The two children aren’t facing any charges, Fromm said. “We just scared the hell out of them, and got ahold of their parents.”

The potential for brush and timber blazes here is high, firefighters warn, because more people seem to be using areas like Tubbs Hill for hiking and swimming trips.

“They haven’t found a way to make it safe,” Good said.

The upside of more people is that forest fires are being reported more quickly. Good said boaters even report fires using their cellular telephones.

, DataTimes