Crews making gains against wildfires in region

Teams battling the two large wildfires to the south and southwest of the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley have made enough progress to be able to position some firefighters so they are poised to respond to any new starts in the area.

The Snake River Complex has covered 107,200 acres on state, tribal, federal and private land on Craig Mountain and the breaks of the lower Snake and Salmon rivers south of Lewiston. Fire information officer Kira Powell said containment jumped to 70 percent Monday after crews were able to connect dozer lines in the Captain John and Hoover Ridge areas. Firefighters were able to conduct burning operations off those lines to widen them and will continue work.

She said there is an increasing chance of thunderstorms in the area starting today.

“We have an initial attack group ready to handle any new ignitions and get them while they are small.”

She noted there is no active fire along the lower Salmon and Snake rivers and both are open for rafting and power boating.

Lines on the Lick Creek Fire southwest of Clarkston are holding well, said fire information officer Jake Attebery. Firefighters continue to widen those lines and are concentrating on the south side of the blaze. He said the fire was mostly creeping and smoldering well inside the lines and fire behavior is largely expected to stay moderate.

“If the weather does kick up the next couple of days we might see torching inside the perimeter, but we really are not expecting too much different fire behavior.”

Attebery said some of the night crew will be repositioned so they can respond to any new fire starts and other crews will continue widening fire lines and working on a contingency line in the Big Butter area.

The fire has covered 71,500 acres and is 45 percent contained.

The Elbow Creek Fire, burning west, southwest of Troy, Ore., along the Grande Ronde River has grown to about 16,500 acres and is 10 percent contained. The fire popped up last week and caused several Level 2 and 3 evacuation notices in the area that remain in place. An incident management team from the Oregon Department of Forestry is leading firefighting efforts there. According to a news release from the team, lines along the northern and eastern flanks of the fire are holding but the blaze is growing to the south where it is being aided by wind and topography. Firefighting efforts are being concentrated in the Grossman Creek area and the tops of ridges in the steep canyon country.

The Cougar Rock Complex has burned 4,367 acres and is 15 percent contained. It includes 14 fires east of Clarkia and Elk River in both Shoshone and Clearwater counties and roughly near the upper reaches of Dworshak Reservoir and the Little North Fork of the Clearwater River. There is a large closure associated with the fire. More information is available at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7640/.

The Johnson Creek Fire has burned 800 acres northwest of Elk River. It will become part of the Leland Complex today. The other fires in the complex include the 1,500-acre Sand Creek Fire, the 6-acre Bonami Fire that is 80 percent contained and the 542-acre Pine Creek Fire that is 100 percent contained.

The Dixie-Jumbo fires near the tiny community of Dixie have burned about 29,300 acres and are 8 percent contained.

The Too Kush 2 Fire burning 4 miles southeast of Kooskia has covered 1,341 acres and is 90 percent contained.

The Green Ridge Fire burning 17 miles southeast of Dayton on the Umatilla National Forest has burned about 1,000 acres and is 15 percent contained. The team working to control the Lick Creek Fire will take over management of the Green Ridge Fire today.

The fires in the Granite Pass Complex west of Lolo Pass on the Idaho-Montana state line have burned about 1,700 acres.

Firefighters from the Salmon River Ranger District of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest extinguished a fire along U.S. Highway 95 at mile marker 216 south of Grangeville on Sunday evening after it burned about 30 acres.

The Weaver Fire has burned 2 acres 3 miles southeast of Pierce. The Snow Creek Fire east-northeast of Kamiah has burned 550 acres. The Bald Mountain Fire north of Castle Butte Lookout on the Lochsa Ranger District of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest has burned 110 acres. The Rocky Ridge 2 Fire has burned about 35 acres near Rocky Ridge Lake along the western end of the Lolo Motorway. The fire is not threatening any structure. It is being monitored from the air but is not being staffed because of higher priorities elsewhere.

The Storm Creek Fire has burned 3,500 acres 9 miles southeast of Powell. The Lonesome Fire 35 miles east of Headquarters has burned 170 acres. The Army Mule Fire has burned 600 acres and the Montro Lake Fire has burned 161 acres and the Prophyry Fire has burned 75 acres in remote wilderness areas of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest.

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