Otter tours site of Cape Horn fire

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter toured the Cape Horn fire Thursday, surveying the damage done by the 1,155-acre blaze near the lakeside town of Bayview.

“Whenever we have a crisis in Idaho, it’s everybody’s crisis,” Otter said.

The tour started aboard an Idaho National Guard Blackhawk helicopter. Although heavy smoke obscured views, Otter watched helicopters drop water on the smoldering hillside.

“Still some pretty good hotspots up there,” he said. “And from what I know about fire management, it’s pretty tough to fight because it’s very, very steep and it’s going uphill. An aerial attack, as long as you have the visibility, is about the only way you’re going to get that.”

Fire officials then briefed Otter in the incident command tent. Bob Fry, incident commander, spoke about the initial role community firefighters played. He acknowledged long-term effects the fire will have, like erosion and tree falls.

“They’re going to live with those hazards all summer,” Fry said.

Otter spoke briefly at a news conference held in the dry, dusty fields of incident command, before touring the area east of Bayview where the fire burned six homes early this week and threatened dozens more. Otter urged homeowners to keep brush and trees near homes trimmed.

“Trim the threat,” he said, adding later, “Make that tree that you like, that’s been around forever, that your granddad planted, make that part of your defensible space.”

On the ground tour Otter stopped and surveyed one of the homes that burned, chatting briefly with Bill Steele, a volunteer training chief for the Timberlake Fire District.

Steele said initially the owner of the burned home couldn’t be located. Turns out she was in the hospital.

The fire propelled by wind, raced downhill at one point jumping the road before finally stopping at the Lake Pend Oreille’s edge. In some cases the fire burned whole swaths of land while leaving other pockets untouched.

Melted power and telephone lines were visible. However, by Wednesday evening Kootenai Electric had restrung the lines, said Bill Morse, incident command spokesman.

Because of the fire’s heat the ground will remain unstable where the fire burned. Returning homeowners will need to be extra cautious around trees with root systems that may have burned. Erosion will be a concern throughout the summer, Morse said.

“I know who does the work, it’s the firefighters,” Fry said. “They did a hell of a job going in there.”

The Cape Horn fire started midday Sunday. As of Thursday it was 40 percent contained and no longer actively threatening homes. Homeowners were allowed back into their homes early Thursday morning. However, containment lines still need strengthening, officials said.

More than 300 firefighters are still on the scene. On Monday, Otter declared the Kootenai and Bonner counties an emergency disaster area.