Salmon-Challis National Forest detects 4 new fires

SALMON, Idaho (KIFI) - The Salmon-Challis National Forest has detected four new fires since the last summary.

Melville Fire (August 11): The lightning caused fire was estimated at 0.1 acres. The fire was located approximately five (5) miles southwest of Meyers Cove on the Middle Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The fire is adjacent to the 2022 Woodtick Fire. The fire, burning in a single tree, was called out on August 13. 

Chilcoot Fire (August 11): The fire is estimated at approximately 11.5 acres burning in spruce and fir. The fire is located approximately two (2) miles northeast of Pistol Lake between Browning and Little Pistol Creeks on the western edge of the Middle Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The Chilcoot Fire is surrounded by previous fires including the Cascade Complex (2007), Kiwah (2018), Pistol (2018), and Buck Fires (2020). Firefighter and public safety is the number one priority for the Chilcoot Fire. When the fire was initially sized up, fire managers initiated actions to suppress the fire. Due to the remote location of the fire, the steep and inaccessible terrain along with lack of safe ingress and egress for firefighters, fire managers changed strategy, keeping firefighter safety in mind. Fire managers will be monitoring the fire by remote camera and reconnaissance flights. Values at risk in the area have been identified and trigger points have been established. If a trigger point is reached, additional actions will be taken by firefighters in order to protect those values at risk. 

Wilson Fire (August 9): The 0.10 acre fire is located approximately six miles northwest of Middle Fork Peak Lookout on the North Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The fire is burning in grass and mountain mahogany in the 2000 Aperejo Fire. The fire is burning in an area with cliffs and is located in steep and rocky terrain. Middle Fork Peak Lookout and aerial resources will continue monitor the Wilson Fire. 

Ulysses Fire (August 9): the lightning fire, located approximately two miles southwest of Ulysses Mountain on the North Fork Ranger District, was estimated at 0.25 acres. The fire, burning in grass and timber was called out on August 11. 

Hayden Fire (July 19): located approximately 18 miles west of Leadore on the Leadore Ranger District. The fire is being updated separately and information can be found at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/idscf-hayden-fire.

To date, there have been 13 wildfires detected on the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Ten of these fires have been declared out. 

Ensure your campfire is dead out. If it is too hot to touch, it is too hot to leave! One Less Spark Means One Less Wildfire. 

Nationally, there are 40 uncontained large fires being managed under a full suppression strategy and 59 large fires managed under a strategy other than full suppression.