Lightning starts new wilderness fires overnight

Several new fires were started by lightning during thunderstorms over the Frank Church River of No Return wilderness Tuesday night. The Salmon-Challis National Forest said the largest of the forest’s fires, the “Ibex” fire was discovered Monday about 11 miles west of Twin Peaks Lookout. A patrol flight Tuesday estimated the size of that fire at 540 acres. One helicopter and 10 firefighters are assigned to the Ibex fire. “We had several starts generated from the storm that moved over the Wilderness Area late afternoon on Monday,” stated Chuck Mark, Forest Supervisor, “It’s the time of year when we can expect these fires to occur in the dry subalpine, dense, and remote forest we have on the Salmon-Challis National Forest.” Smoke is visible in areas surrounding Challis and Salmon. More hot and dry weather and some scattered thunderstorms are expected to continue over the area for the next few days.