Crews battle blaze in Hells Canyon

U.S. Forest Service officials mobilized a special firefighting team Tuesday to battle a fast-growing fire in Hells Canyon near Pittsburg Landing.

Estimated at 6,400 acres, the lightning-caused Pittsburg Fire was reported Monday and is burning in dry grass and timber stringers on national forest land between Jones Creek and Big Canyon Creek on the Idaho side of the Snake River. It is near the area that burned in the 2007 Poe Fire, which eventually grew to 58,000 acres.

According to a news release from the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the Pittsburg Fire is spreading north and south in the canyon and is expected to grow because of hot temperatures and low relative humidities that are forecast to continue this week. Local Forest Service officials pounded the blaze with helicopters, air tankers, smoke jumpers and ground crews throughout the day. A Type 2 incident command team took over management of the blaze Tuesday afternoon and is establishing a fire camp at the White Bird Rodeo grounds on the Salmon River. No other information was available Tuesday evening.

The hot and dry conditions that are helping to fuel the fire also prompted officials on the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests to implement seasonal restrictions designed to reduce the chances of accidental fire starts. Under the rules, smoking is only allowed in enclosed vehicles, developed recreation areas or areas cleared of burnable vegetation. Chain saws can be operated from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wood cutters are required to stay in the area and watch for fires for at least one hour after they stop operating chain saws. They are required to have an ax, shovel and fire extinguisher with them. Travel is not allowed off of roads or trails or on roads and trails not cleared of standing grass.

Campfires are allowed in some areas, but must be in fire pits surrounded by dirt and rocks, or in commercial fire rings like those found in developed campgrounds. The fire rings must be surrounded by a 5-foot radius that has been cleared of burnable material.

Campfires are not allowed within a quarter-mile of the Snake River within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

Other fires burning in the region include:

• There is a 100-acre fire burning in the Hurricane Creek Drainage of the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area near Enterprise, Ore. Because of the fire, the popular Hurricane Creek Trailhead that provides access to several lakes in the wilderness area has been closed.
• Fire crews from the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association responded to a house fire in the Greer area. Cameron Eck, fire program manager for the association, said the crews were making sure the fire didn't spread to surrounding wildlands. The Clearwater County Sheriff's Office did not have any information on the house fire.

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Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.