Where there's smoke, there's fire, the saying goes, but that was only partially true of the smoke in the Wood River Valley on Tuesday morning.
Kurt Nelson, Ketchum District ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, said the smoke is from distant flames.
"Nothing close, so far as I know," Nelson said.
The exact fire causing the smoke, however, is hard to determine. Nelson and Julie Thomas, spokeswoman for the Sawtooth National Forest, said the smoke could be coming from three fires on the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Nelson said the smoke could also be coming from the 2,237-acre Castro Fire on the Boise National Forest some 18 miles north of Lowman.
"Depending on how the wind blew in, it's hard to say," he said.
The Castro Fire was started by lightning on Thursday, Aug. 4, and has 15 personnel on the scene.
David Olson, spokesman for the Boise National Forest, said the Castro and the Velvet Fire, five miles northeast of the Boundary Creek launch site on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, were likely responsible for Tuesday's smoke.
"The thinking is there is a combination of fires to the north [causing the smoke]," he said. "[The Velvet Fire] was really active yesterday."
According to a press release from the Salmon-Challis National Forest, the Velvet Fire was started by lightning on Aug. 13 in the Soldier Creek Drainage. The 1,300-acre blaze was active and smoky on Monday, the release stated.
The Black Canyon, Salt and Saddle Complex fires north of the valley grew to encompass a total of almost 44,000 acres over the weekend. The largest, the Saddle Complex Fire, has reached 27,528 acres about 22 miles northwest of North Fork, and 244 personnel are on scene.
Heather Tiel-Nelson, spokeswoman for the BLM's Twin Falls District, said it's not unusual for wind patterns to blow smoke from faraway fires.
"You would not believe how the one on the Boise National Forest had Twin Falls socked in," she said.
Nelson said the smoke was likely pushed into the valley by an inversion, which causes cold air to push down on the smoke, shoving it into nearby valleys and canyons. Normally, the smoke dissipates by afternoon, once the sun has heated the air and broken up the inversion, allowing smoke to escape.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
