Wapiti Fire in Idaho tops 70,000 acres; containment at 0% • Idaho Capital Sun

Firefighters worked through the night to protect homes as the Wapiti Fire in Idaho has spread to more than 28,000 acres and fire suppression remains at 0%, fire officials said Tuesday.

The Wapiti Fire was started by arson near Grandjean on July 24 and is burning in the Boise National Forest, Sawtooth National Forest, Sawtooth Wilderness and Salmon-Challis National Forest.

“Monday afternoon, fire activity increased and the fire began to spread toward Crooked Creek,” the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team wrote in the Daily InciWeb update from Wapiti Fire.

“The focus remains on protecting buildings and communities while beginning to establish control capabilities where possible,” fire officials added.

Fire officials said Tuesday that 620 people were battling the Wapiti Fire and that firefighters and wildland firefighting crews with fire trucks were creating a fire-retardant line east of Idaho Highway 21.

As of Tuesday, eight individual homes and five other buildings had been burned by the Wapiti Fire, fire public information officials said in response to questions during a Livestream meeting of the fire department community in Lowman on Tuesday evening.

Dan Dallas, operations manager for the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team, said firefighters worked through Monday night to protect homes near the town of Stanley.

“The fire was spreading quickly and moving toward Stanley and the residential areas along Highway 21, just outside of Stanley, about a quarter to a half mile (away),” Dallas said at the meeting. “So we laid a line of flame retardant here on Iron Creek Road and then we went around the corner and to the other side of Highway 21. That was to keep it from burning beyond the line.”

“It was successful; it burned until about 3 a.m.,” Dallas added.

While Tuesdays At a meeting, firefighters and leaders of the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management team urged area residents threatened by wildfires to gather all their insurance documents and make plans for what they will take with them in the event of an evacuation. They said it is easier to prepare early than to try to gather important insurance documents and irreplaceable family heirlooms at the last minute to take with them.

On Tuesday evening, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office announced that an emergency evacuation order had been issued for the communities of Lower Stanley and Gateway and urged residents to leave the area immediately.

Earlier, Idaho Transportation Department officials closed Idaho Highway 21 between Lowman and Stanley because of the Wapiti Fire. That closure remained in effect Tuesday. Officials also closed Idaho Highway 17, also known as Banks-Lowman Road, in both directions between Garden Valley and Lowman because of the nearby Nellie Fire, which is part of the Middle Fork Complex fires.

“The closure is necessary for public safety reasons and to provide safe conditions for firefighters working along the highway,” Fire officials wrote on Tuesday.

On August 22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service issued a closure order is closing parts of the Boise, Sawtooth and Salmon-Challis national forests because of the Wapiti Fire. The order prohibits the public from entering the Wapiti Fire area and using roads and trails in the Wapiti Fire area. The closure order is set to remain in effect until Dec. 31 unless lifted early. Violation of the order is punishable by fines of up to $5,000 for individuals or $10,000 for organizations and a jail sentence of up to six months, the order states.

Due to increased fire activity, the Boise County Sheriff's Office has expanded evacuation orders for the Wapiti Fire and issued a Level 1 evacuation order for all homes along the Idaho Highway 21 corridor between mile marker 82 and mile marker 85. Residents are urged to prepare and be ready to evacuate.

Current evacuation information can be found on the Boise County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page and the Custer County Sheriff's Office Facebook Page. Updates are also available on the Facebook page with information about the 2024 Wapiti Fire.

Firefighters expressed concern about the weather conditions and the possibility of further fire spread.

“Near critical fire weather conditions are expected this afternoon as gusty southwest winds develop before a dry cold front moves through later tonight,” the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team wrote Tuesday. “This will increase fire behavior, which may result in increased rate of spread, arson and spotting.”

During a community meeting Tuesday night in Lowman, Dallas said the Wapiti Fire could continue to rage until cold weather and snow arrive.

“We're here until either our time runs out and another team comes or something happens with the weather, but I have my doubts – we're not seeing anything like that right now,” Dallas said.

On Tuesday, National Interagency Fire Service Centre Boise reported that 13 major fires are burning in Idaho, burning a total of 195,579 acres.