Summer fires will cost Idaho taxpayers $60 million

The Idaho Department of Lands reports more than 300 fires on state lands burned 75,000 acres this summer. Suppression costs are estimated at close to $80 million. According to the department, Idaho taxpayers will pay $60 million of those costs.

Nearly half of the fires on state land were human-caused.

The Clearwater Complex fires destroyed 48 homes and 70 other buildings near Kamiah in August. Those fires cost more than $25 million to suppress and burned more than 68,000 acres.

While the five-month long fire season was one of the worst on record for northern Idaho, it was a very quiet season in eastern Idaho.

The Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center reported a total of 64 fires on federal land in eastern Idaho. Those fires burned 928.43 acres. 40 of the fires were human-caused and the rest were caused by lightning.