Idaho firefighters facing high temperatures and windy conditions as blazes

Friday’s forecast thunderstorm didn’t hit Missoula as hard as advertised, but it did stir up several small fires across western Montana.

The Rough Fire in the Sierra National Forest now stands at 13,346 acres, with zero percent containment.

The smoke was carried into east from winds following Friday night’s storms.

“We’re working furiously on this before that weather pattern kicks in”, said Steve Swindle, a fire engineer with Ventura County who is assisting Cal Fire on the Jerusalem blaze. The fire continues to push to the east, as well as to the north down Canyon Creek.

More than 100 homes in the canyons and plateaus around this eastern Oregon community were evacuated Friday as the Canyon Creek Complex went on its rampage.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire had expanded across 32 square miles and crews had the flames just 16 percent contained.

Fortunately, neither the Rocky Fire nor the Jerusalem Fire compare to any of the worst California wildfires on record, all of which consumed over 200,000 acres. She said he told authorities, “I’m not leaving”.

As California reforms its prison system and more low-level offenders are sent home sooner, the state may have to entertain the idea of including more violent offenders in the firefighting ranks.

“We need additional air resources to increase our comfort”, Beverlin said. “The other is heading into the Nyack drainage to check on the patrol cabins”. No details were available about that blaze at press time.

The blaze that started Monday has been recorded traveling a mile and a half in eight minutes and producing spot fires that expand to more than a square mile in 10 minutes. They are backed up with two engines and a helicopter. The highway is closed to milepost 25 at Seneca. An emergency road closure has been signed for public and firefighter safety.

The River Complex Fire in Shasta-Trinity National Forest is now at 32,880 acres with 18 percent containment.

McLean said the causes of the ongoing Rocky fire and the Jerusalem Fire remained under investigation and he declined to say whether officials consider either or both of the fires suspicious. Elsewhere, an uncontained blaze near Cougar Creek had burned 28 square miles near the Yakima Indian reservation.

Participants make $2 per day in the program and $2 an hour when they’re on a fire line.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help fight multiple fires around the state.

Mandatory evacuations remain in place around Kamiah.

The areas along the highway surrounding and behind Hearthstone Lodge are also under mandatory evacuations.

The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office is reporting there have been no injuries or deaths as a result of the fire, but say 70-year-old Cheryl Lee Wissler of Adams Grade died Friday evening when she fell and suffered a fatal head wound while preparing to evacuate.