By Liza Pulsipher
It started out as a regular day. We met at the warehouse, printed and reviewed the national fire situation report and the local weather. A storm had passed through the night before and local meteorologists were predicting more lightning and storms throughout the afternoon; a "watch-out situation" for any firefighter. With that information we looked up the local lightning map in order to pinpoint locations where lightning had struck the night before, and set out to patrol these areas and keep a sharp lookout for signs of smoke. Fortunately the storms that came that afternoon were accompanied by some precipitation and there were no signs of smoke.
Around 4pm on July 22nd the call went out, "Attention initial attack unit 1431, please respond to a fire...". A lightning strike had ignited a tree and the smoke was now visible from Highway 75. The fire was located towards the top of the ridge behind North Fork campground on the West side of Highway 75, and the best access was straight up the ridge, so we started hiking. Within minutes we were right there in the heat of the fire cutting and digging fireline. From there we could see the crowds accumulating along the highway, cameras out, waiting to see if this would be another "big one". Fortunately the winds cooperated and with help from a helicopter and crew out of Twin Falls, air resources, and smokejumpers out of McCall we were able to extinguish the fire before it grew out of control.
This season's first forest fire in the Wood River Valley is proof that the deceptively green fuels are hiding explosive dead and dry surface fuels. Please heed Smokey Bear's warning signs. Fire danger levels are extreme so use caution, watch for smoke after lightning storms and we can all enjoy a safe and happy summer.
