Fires spark damage across Northwest

A combine fire on Montgomery Ridge near Anatone burned about 75 acres of wheat stubble Friday and threatened to escape into a canyon before firefighters from the Blue Mountain Fire District No. 1 doused the flames.

District commissioner Justin Moss said the fire destroyed an older combine and heavily damaged another.

"It was an older combine, but it's still not cheap," he said. "It sounds like it was a mechanical issue."

In Montana, the Lolo Peak Fire and the Sunshine Fire continue to be active. Meanwhile, the Lolo Peak Fire destroyed two homes Friday after jumping control lines as firefighters braved another day of high temperatures, gusty winds and low humidity.

The homes, southwest of the town of Lolo, were among 750 residences evacuated after the fire, started by lightning in July. Several outbuildings were burned late Thursday.

The fire forced the closure of the Highway 12 at the Idaho-Montana state line starting at 5 p.m. Friday. More information on the highway and its status is available at http://tinyurl.com/yb4kddnr.

The 250 Road along Trout Creek on the Montana side of Hoodoo Pass also is closed but a detour is in place.

Several wildfires continue to burn in remote areas of the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. The largest is the Hanover Fire burning both inside and outside of the Gospel Hump Wilderness Area. The fire has burned more than 13,700 acres and is 35 percent contained.

Dave Bales' Southwest type 2 incident management team took command of firefighting duties this week. The team is overseeing 188 personnel.

The fire has burned along the Salmon River. The Salmon River Road and the river itself remain open. Land north of the road and river are included in a large area around the blaze that has been closed to public entry.

The fire started Aug. 1 from a lightning strike about 5 miles southwest of Square Mountain.

The Moose Creek 1 Fire is the largest of several burning in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. It has covered 10,393 acres near the Moose Creek Historic Ranger Station. Forest Service officials are monitoring the fire, but allowing it to burn and play a natural role in the environment.

Forest managers are taking the same approach with the nearby Lone Peak Fire that has burned nearly 6,000 acres and the Rattlesnake Point Fire in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area. It has burned 4,407 acres.

Forest and fire managers in the region have implemented restrictions that ban campfires on public land. The are exceptions for people who use metal fire pans within a quarter-mile of the Snake, Salmon and Selway rivers and people who use metal fire rings in developed campgrounds. Stage 2 fire restrictions are in place on a portion of the Palouse Ranger District that includes Laird Park, Giant White Pine and Bald Mountain campgrounds.

More information about several smaller fires, fire restrictions, and road and area closures is available on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest website at http://bit.ly/2wiA0Z8.

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