Payette braces for wildfires
Fire restrictions are likely to go into effect early next week on the Payette National Forest and other public lands as historically hot and dry conditions usher in a frightening fire forecast.At this point in the year, only 3% of the days over the past 20 years have had worse conditions for wildfire potential, said Payette National Forest Fire Management Officer David Vining.Restrictions like limiting campfires to Forest Service provided fire rings in designated campsites and prohibiting smoking outdoors are likely to be put in place early next week, Vining said.Rules would apply on land managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Idaho Department of Lands.Fire restrictions in Central Idaho are not typically enacted until late August or September, with many years having no restrictions at all.“Smokey Bear is pointing at ‘very high’ fire danger now and that’s about a month early for us, and that’s going to continue to rise over the next few weeks,” Vining said.In preparation for dry lightning across the area on Wednesday, Vining ordered extra firefighters to aid the Payette’s crews already on duty, including two fire engine crews, a helicopter rappel crew and one twenty two-person hand crew.Already stationed on the Payette are about 200 firefighters, six fire engines, two single engine air tankers, two Twin Otter smokejumper airplanes an “air attack plane” and a helicopter.As of Tuesday, there were no active fires on the Payette, but smoke moved into the region from fires in Eastern Oregon and California.The main sources of smoke are the Cow Valley Fire about 80 miles southwest of McCall in Oregon, that had grown to about 133,000 acres as of Tuesday and the roughly 66,000-acre Falls Fire near Burns, Oregon.
