Firefighters Scramble After Lightning Storm Crews Reach 13 Of 25 Reported Fires In Two Northern Counties

A dramatic lightning storm Wednesday night had firefighters hopping in the Panhandle Thursday.

More than 3,000 lightning strikes were recorded in the state by computer modeling, with most of them over Bonner and Boundary counties, said Kerry Arneson, fire information officer for the interagency dispatch center.

“It really unleashed over North Idaho,” she said.

Fire crews were rushing from one fire to the next Thursday, trying to stop them before they got out of hand.

“They’re really cranking,” Arneson said.

Sixteen smokejumpers from Missoula and the St. Joe Interagency Hotshot Crew were on standby, waiting to be assigned to a fire. The Interagency Dispatch Center also had an air tanker on standby.

As of late Thursday afternoon, 40 firefighters were fighting 13 fires in Bonner and Boundary counties, and another 12 fires reported in those counties had not been reached by firefighters.

Six fires were being battled in Kootenai County. Most of the fires were less than one-tenth of an acre in size, except the Kootenai Mission fire near Mission Hill, which was one-quarter acre in size.

“It’s only just begun,” said Nick Nichols with the Idaho Department of Lands Pend Oreille Fire Protective District. “We’re hoping to keep them all small and get them quick.”

Fire spotters were flying over the forests throughout the Panhandle and were expected to keep looking for fires throughout the weekend.

Lightning-caused fires tend to take longer to spot, fire experts say, particularly when rain accompanies them. But, Nichols said, it will only take one day of 80-degree weather to dry out the forests.

He said fires not visible Thursday would likely flare up and keep firefighters busy today.

The weather forecast called for hotter, drier weather the rest of the week and more thundershowers possible. Thunderstorms could bring wind, which speeds up a fire’s spread.

“Right now, things look really good because we don’t have any wind,” Arneson said. But, “the hot temperatures are going to dry it out again. It’s real high fire danger.”