Special Firefighting Crews Ready For Strong Winds North Idaho Teams Will Remain On Standby

Special teams are being stationed in North Idaho in case strong wind gusts turn small fires into large ones.

A “Wind Event Community Task Force” is arriving in Sandpoint this weekend.

The team is made up of firefighters and overhead commanders that will have access to five engines and five bulldozers, said David Cobb, fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service in Sandpoint.

Those crews will remain on standby, waiting to see if predicted wind gusts and possible lightning and thunderstorms spark any major fires.

For now, Bonner and Boundary counties have the most wildfires still burning.

On Friday, nine fires were burning 331 acres in the Lightning Creek drainage area east of Clark Fork, Idaho. Five of the fires are staffed, four are not.

No homes or structures are threatened.

Crews are still battling a 160-acre fire near Lunch Peak east of Lake Pend Oreille in the Cabinet Mountains.

Tanker airplanes are also dropping retardant.

A 500-acre fire is still burning 40 miles northeast of Bonners Ferry, fire officials said. Threatened resources include wildlife habitat, timber production and scenic areas.

In the Coeur d’Alene area, all large fires have been put out. However, a grass fire and a slash pile fire started outside Kellogg on Friday, said Kerry Arneson with the U.S. Forest Service in Coeur d’Alene. Fire crews have contained them.

The Route of the Hiawatha mountain biking trail is still open, but all traffic to the trail has been routed through Wallace and over Moon Pass. The Taft entrance is closed to trail riders.