As the Castle Rock Fire marched north from Warm Springs Canyon, myriad side stories developed. Here's a sampling of what our reporters saw and heard.
Band of 2,000 sheep barely escapes fire
Scattered far and wide by the Castle Rock Fire was a band of some 800 to 900 adult female sheep and another 1,100 or so lambs, Sawtooth National Forest Range Conservation Officer Mike O'Farrell said Monday.
The combined 2,000 sheep that were grazing in the area had already become scattered due to harassment by an unknown number of wolves just prior to the fire beginning to burn, O'Farrell said. While not certain of the exact numbers, he said three or more of the sheep may have been killed by the wolves.
O'Farrell said none of the sheep in the band have been lost due to the fire. With help from a camp tender, the sheep herder looking after the band was able to trail the sheep away from the blaze, he said.
O'Farrell said the sheep are now holed up in a safe location west of the blaze in lower Castle Gulch.
"They're still up in the Castle Gulch area," he said.
The owner of the sheep, Dennis Kowitz of Declo, is working to bring in a truck to haul the sheep away, O'Farrell said. He said once Kowitz has a truck in route, the sheep will be trailed west to the corral at Placer Creek.
Conditions permitting, firefighters working on the blaze will likely allow the truck to travel in and out of Warm Springs Road from Ketchum, he said. Failing that, Kowitz may have to bring the truck in along the much longer route from the west over Dollarhide Summit.
Flames threaten backcountry huts
The more visible front-country residences and multi-million-dollar second homes in the Warm Springs Creek drainage, lower Adams Gulch and the Hulen Meadows and Fox Creek areas aren't the only structures threatened by the fast-moving Castle Rock Fire.
Mid-day on Monday, Sun Valley Trekking co-owner Joe St. Onge said he had just safely returned from a last-minute outing to retrieve valuable assets from one of the company's backcountry huts in the eastern Smoky Mountains. St. Onge reported that the Tornak Hut—tucked away in an isolated mountain basin at 8,600-feet—still remained unburned, at least for the time being.
The hut was recently transformed from just another one of the adventure company's six remote backcountry huts into a fully wheelchair accessible backcountry getaway. The project is a three-way partnership between Sun Valley Trekking, Ketchum-based Sun Valley Adaptive Sports and the Arthur B. Schultz Foundation of Alta, Wyo. The president of the foundation—which has given a $6,500 grant to fund the construction costs—is Hailey resident Erik Schultz.
St. Onge said the U.S. Forest Service officials gave them permission Monday to drive the seven miles along the now-closed East Fork of Baker Creek Road to retrieve as much as they could from the unopened hut.
"I'm unloading things now," he reported by phone from his home in Hailey.
St. Onge said the fire hadn't reached the Tornak Hut yet, but had reached the highest summit in the vicinity of the backcountry getaway a mile distant.
"It's right on top of Fox Peak," he said. "We could see the flames up there. It's close."
Those same flames meant they couldn't head over to another one of the company's huts nearby, the Coyote Yurt, St. Onge said. Still, he remained about as upbeat as anyone could in such a situation.
"I am being as optimistic as I can," he said. "If and when the Coyote Yurt survives it's going to have quite a story to tell."
St. Onge said that unlike the Tornak Hut, the Coyote Yurt is fully outfitted for summer business. In fact, the Forest Service had to stop a family headed to the yurt on Saturday.
More than anything, St. Onge seemed most concerned with the loss of a popular mid-winter destination for locals and tourists alike.
"It's a ritual for a lot of folks," he said.
Board Ranch couple stands their ground
Lower Board Ranch resident Will Caldwell, with his wife, Julie, decided not to evacuate his house Sunday afternoon after an evacuation order was issued. Speaking by telephone from his house, he said he believed the greatest threat to his house was burning embers dropping onto the roof, not a wall of fire marching into the area and engulfing the residence.
"I feel like if any threat to my home materializes, I want to be here to protect my house from being enflamed," he said. "I would rather do what I can to protect my house."
Caldwell said at 7 p.m. Sunday that the Board Ranch was "like a ghost town." However, he said his observations indicated the fire was moving north and, although there were flames on the ridge high above the development, there appeared to be no immediate danger of the fire moving quickly into his area.
Caldwell, who has lived in the area for 35 years, said he had seen fires before and felt confident he could monitor the potential danger to his home as he stood his ground against the Castle Rock Fire. He also maintained a sense of humor about the situation.
"They (police) went up and down the streets with a megaphone saying (Gov.) Butch Otter says you have to leave," he said. "I didn't vote for Butch Otter."
Sheep scatter in the shadow of the Castle Rock Fire last weekend. It is believed that wolves, not the fire, might have been their primary fear. Photo by Willy Cook
