The Dixie fire, 40 miles southeast of Grangeville and 15 miles south of Elk City, more than doubled in size Wednesday as firefighters focused their attention on protecting structures and improving the roads and fuel breaks near Dixie and nearby Comstock.

Most of the 33 year-round residents of Dixie have been evacuated, but a few intrepid souls are sticking it out for the time being and said they have confidence in firefighters’ ability to keep the town safe.

“We feel pretty well protected and, quite honestly, we have not been ordered to leave,” said Steve Repp, owner of Repp RV Park.

Repp, like other Dixie residents, is not new to enduring the effects of wildfires around the town.

“This is not our first rodeo,” Repp said. “When you live in a place like this, you have to be prepared for anything.”

He said all the locals know more than one way out of town, and firefighters have been allowing property owners to leave and come back by the main road if necessary. Mail and other delivery services, however, have been temporarily suspended, and the U.S. Forest Service enacted closures to the general public throughout the area late Tuesday.

Although the fire has been moving rapidly, Repp said it is not coming toward the community.

“They (firefighters) did an excellent job of building a fire line around the 2013 fire, and they have used that fire break, which is east of town, not far — they’ve used it to good effect. And they have kept the fire from going past the fire break toward town,” he said.

Other people who live on the outskirts of Dixie, however, are not as well protected, he added, and all were evacuated Tuesday by the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office.

Repp said those who remain in town “keep communications open with the firefighters, and they tell us a lot. We try not to get in their way, but they keep us informed and we help them out with little things. We have a good relationship. We feel safe.”

Richard Marlatt, another Dixie homeowner, said he and his wife are staying in Clarkston for the time being. But he keeps an eye on his property with webcams stationed at his home.

“This is the third go-round over the 21 years that I’ve been in there,” Marlatt said. “So you’re always worried about your property and things, and it’s part of living in there, though you’re going to have these things happen.”

Marlatt said one of the advantages of living in a remote place like Dixie is that people are always prepared for wildfires. Locals have been expecting a volatile fire year because of the dryness throughout the Northwest.

“You have a little more notice about things if you live out” of the urban areas, he said.

Jim Wimer, fire information officer for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest, reported the Dixie fire was about 7,000 acres as of 7 a.m. Wednesday. Aerial surveys are conducted at night that reveal the growth of the fire each day.

The fire has continued to burn actively and spread in all directions, and fire managers were expecting that to continue Wednesday.

A Type 1 Incident Management Team arrived on the scene Wednesday and was expected to assume command of the fire at 6 a.m. today. The fire is being managed with multiple aircraft, crews, engines, medical personnel and heavy equipment.

Fire officials are developing a closure order for the Dixie fire area that is expected to be distributed as soon as it becomes available. More information about the Dixie fire is available on InciWeb at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7608/.

The Idaho Department Lands and Timber Protection Associations have been following up on reports of smoke and were sending crews to fires Wednesday. Drones interfered with the aerial attack on one fire near Kamiah, which put homes at risk, according to Sharla Arledge, fire information officer for the state agency. No further information about the drone was immediately available.

Some of the fires the agencies are currently focused on include:

Butte Creek Fire burning 400 acres in timber and logging slash located near Butte Creek in Clearwater County. No structures are currently threatened, and multiple aircraft, engines and ground resources are being used to battle this blaze.

The Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association is the lead agency, and a Type 2 Interagency Management Team has been ordered for this fire.

A flight over the area revealed at least 12 fires within the protection area and another possible 12 unconfirmed fires within the protection area.

The Scott Road fire, also managed by the CPTPA, is about 100 acres locate north of Boehls Camp. It is burning in timber with no structures threatened. Department of Lands firefighters and ground equipment are currently working on the fire.

The Shovel Creek Fire, managed by the Idaho Department of Lands Craig Mountain Fire Protection District, is burning about 2,500 acres in grasses with a high spread potential. Some structures are threatened but no evacuations have been ordered. The fire is located near Corral Creek near the Nez Perce and Lewis County border.

The Hoover Ridge Fire, also managed by the Craig Mountain Fire Protection District, is about 10 acres and burning in timber near the oxbow of the Salmon River. Multiple air resources are working on the fire. There are at least three other small fires in the area and crews are investigating more reports of smoke.

The Sweet Ridge Fire under the Craig Mountain Fire Protection District is burning 15 acres of timber east of Waha. Resources on the scene include four engines and one dozer. No structures are threatened at this time.

A drone operator has put homes at risk on the Ridgewood Fire, located about 3 miles south and east of Kamiah. Because of the drone, multiple air resources had to stop dropping water on the 40 acre fire burning in timber, brush and steep terrain. Homes are located above the fire, and crews have been trying to keep the fire from going up the steep hill toward the homes. No evacuations have been ordered. The Maggie Creek Fire Protection District is managing this fire, and multiple aircraft, engines and ground resources are being used.

The 40- to 50-acre Big Horse Fire also is under the management of the Maggie Creek Fire Protection District. It is located at the head of Big Horse Canyon near Kooskia in timber on the edge of agricultural land with homes nearby. No evacuations have been ordered. This is the fourth fire in this area within the last week. Multiple aircraft, engines and ground resources are currently fighting this fire and a Type 3 Interagency Management Team has been ordered for this fire.

The public is reminded not to use drones anywhere near wildland fires because fire planes cannot fly when drones are present. Fire resources are spread thin, and there is the threat of additional lightning storms throughout the week across the state. Many regions are considering fire restrictions and drought and high temperatures are creating extremely high fire conditions.

A 50-year-old Burley man was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court for six months of home confinement and $79,800 in fines for causing a fire that burned hundreds of acres on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Scott Halford admitted guilt in causing the fires in the Milner Recreation Area west of Burley. Evidence was based on surveillance photographs and witness statements.

Over the past three years, the news release said, more than 1,900 human-caused wildfires have burned more than a half million acres in Idaho. So far, in 2021, more than 300 human-caused wildfires have burned more than 8,800 acres of land in the state.

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.