Fire managers plan prescription burns this week

The Caribou Targhee National Forest says it will take advantage of an approaching storm system to conduct prescription burn operations.

Firefighters made good progress on the Self-Help prescribed burn near Preston Tuesday. The goal is to improve plant diversity and wildlife habitat while helping to protect wildland interface for communities at risk from wildfire.

In the Pocatello area, firefighters will begin black-lining the East Hills unit of the Toponce project. They hope to continue with interior ignitions towards the first of October.

And, in the Island Park area, the forest will continue working on the Yale Creek Project. It is reducing hazardous fuels adjacent to the Yale Creek Subdivision. Mechanical fuel reduction began in 2018 and 318 acres were cut and piled. Fire personnel prefer to burn that material when snow is present, after the area has received significant moisture, or during spring green-up.

A storm system is predicted to come through eastern Idaho this weekend and firefighters expect to have a small window to conduct burn operations.