Rabbit Foot Fire holds at 20 percent containment
UPDATE 9/10/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, is now 20 percent contained and has burned 35,857 acres.
Firefighters have made excellent progress the past two days.
They completed rehabilitation of firelines and removal of equipment on Silver Creek Road, south of Williams Lake, and between Hat and Little Hat Creeks.
The most active portions of the fire perimeter continue to be near Wards Butte, Iron Creek, and Moyer Creek. Tree torching sent off embers that started smaller fires ahead of the main fire; however, helicopters dropped water on these spots to limit growth.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, the lowest level of alert. Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior .
The Morgan Creek Road (NFSR 055) is open for through traffic in the closure area. Stopping is not permitted.
The Cabin and Ringle Creek Roads and all spurs are open.
There is still an area closure on the Salmon-Challis National Forest.
UPDATE 9/5/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, is now 20 percent contained.
Despite hot and dry weather, the fire only grew 309 acres over the last six days, making a total of 35,678 burned acres.
This minimal growth is the result of work done by firefighters on the ground supported by helicopters with water buckets.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, the lowest level of alert.
Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior.
An area closure remains in effect on Salmon-Challis National Forest lands. Silver Creek Road is open.
The Morgan Creek Road (NFSR 055) is now open to the public for through traffic only in the closure area. Stopping is not permitted.
The area closure does cover parts of hunting units 28 and 36B.
UPDATE 9/5/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, is now 17 percent contained and has burned 35,678 acres.
Current fire activity is slow moving, creeping downslope towards control lines.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, which is the lowest level of alert.
Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior.
An area closure remains in effect on Salmon-Challis National Forest lands. Silver Creek Road is open.
The Morgan Creek Road (NFSR 055) is now open to the public for through traffic only in the closure area. Stopping is not permitted.
The area closure does cover parts of hunting units 28 and 36B.
UPDATE 9/4/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, remains 14 percent containment and has burned 35,369 acres.
Firefighters continue to successfully limit fire growth in many places. Even though there has been minimal fire growth during the last week and dozer lines are being repaired, crews were improving work in the Panther Creek, Moyer, and Corral Creek areas.
The work done by firefighters on the ground in the Mink Creek area was successful Monday and kept the fire within the drainage.
The northern portion of the fire east of Panther Creek is crawling downhill slowly towards control lines.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, which is the lowest level of alert. Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior.
An area closure remains in effect on Salmon-Challis National Forest lands. Silver Creek Road is open.
The Morgan Creek Road (NFSR 055) is now open to the public for through traffic only in the closure area. Stopping is not permitted.
The area closure does cover parts of hunting units 28 and 36B.
The Cabin and Ringle Creek Roads and all spurs that connect to those roads remain closed by the Bureau of Land Management’s Salmon Field Office.
UPDATE 9/3/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, held at 14 percent containment over the weekend.
It has burned 35,369 acres, and firefighters have successfully limited fire growth in many places using both hand tools and water from pumps, hoses and helicopters.
The Morgan Creek Road (NFSR 055) remains open to through traffic.
Firefighters continue to work near the road to minimize impacts to the road; however, a chance remains that increased fire behavior could change the road status.
Even though there has been minimal fire growth during the last week and dozer lines are being repaired, crews were finished structure protection in the Williams Lake area Sunday.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, which is the lowest level of alert.
Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior.
An area closure remains in effect on Salmon-Challis National Forest lands.
Silver Creek Road is open.
UPDATE 8/31/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, has burned 35,369 acres and has reached 14 percent containment.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, which is the lowest level of alert.
Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior.
An area closure remains in effect on Salmon-Challis National Forest lands.
Silver Creek Road is open; however, the Morgan Creek Road remains closed between Rye Grass Pinnacle and Rooker Basin and NFSR108 road.
The area closure does cover parts of hunting units 28 and 36B.
UPDATE 8/30/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, has burned 35,323 acres and has reached 14 percent containment.
Fire activity increased Wednesday due to warmer temperatures and less cloud cover. Winds and higher temperatures will likely increase fire activity this weekend, and potential for measurable surface spread exists.
All pre-evacuation zones in both Custer and Lemhi counties are in Level 1 status, which is the lowest level of alert.
Residents in these zones should maintain awareness of the potential for evacuations in the event of increased fire behavior and should have a plan for what to take and where they will go if evacuations become necessary based on changes in fire activity.
The Salmon-Challis National Forest has reduced the area closure due to the Rabbit Foot Fire.
Areas west of Black Mountain ridge are now open to the public.
Silver Creek Road is open; however, the Morgan Creek Road remains closed between Rye Grass Pinnacle and Rooker Basin and NF108 road.
The area closure does cover parts of hunting units 28 and 36B.
UPDATE 8/29/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, has burned 35,271 acres and remains 10 percent contained.
Fire activity remained minimal Tuesday thanks to previous precipitation.
As of Tuesday morning, the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office reduced the Level 2 evacuations to Level 1 pre-evacuation notifications.
In Custer County, the Sheriff’s Office has lifted pre-evacuation notices for areas west of Highway 93 and south of Watts Bridge.
Level 1 evacuations are the lowest level of alert and are meant to raise awareness of the potential for evacuations.
Residents should have a plan for what to take and where they will go if evacuations become necessary.
The Salmon-Challis National Forest has reduced the area closure due to the Rabbit Foot Fire.
Areas west of Black Mountain ridge are now open to the public.
Silver Creek Road is open; however, the Morgan Creek Road remains closed between Rye Grass Pinnacle and Rooker Basin and NF108 road.
The area closure does cover parts of hunting units 28 and 36B.
The Cabin and Ringle Creek Roads and all spurs that connect to those roads remain closed by the Bureau of Land Management’s Salmon Field Office.
UPDATE 8/27/18: The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, has burned 35,271 acres and remains 10 percent contained.
Firefighters continue improving indirect lines away from the main fire perimeter to the west and north of the fire. They will also work on strengthening containment lines on the southern edge, where about three miles of fire perimeter has been fully contained.
The Morgan Creek Road, along with all other areas and roads currently closed, will remain closed for the near future for the safety of firefighters and the public.
These closures are being constantly evaluated by fire managers and local agency officials. They will be reopened once there is certainty that the fire will not further impact them.
Notifications to be ready to evacuate have been issued to residents living in the Highway 93 corridor.
Level 2 evacuations indicate that residents should be prepared to leave quickly if there is a change in conditions.
Level 1 evacuations are a lower level and are meant to raise awareness of the potential for evacuations.
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The lightning-caused Rabbit Foot Fire, 22 miles N. of Challis, has burned 34,844 acres and is now 10 percent contained.
An infrared flight occurred early Friday showing fire growth Thursday to be about 300 acres.
With fire weather expected to increase, there may be visible smoke to the public on Friday for the first time in a few days. Wind speeds will increase with gusts up to 34 mph.
A morning convoy has been occurring daily on Morgan Creek road in order to shuttle crews, supplies, and mail deliveries through the fire area and closure.
Firefighters scouted potential locations for additional contingency lines due to the expected increase fire behavior Thursday.
This is expected over the weekend due to rising temperatures and lower humidity levels.
Stage One fire restrictions remain in effect on National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, State and County lands.
The Lemhi County Sheriff’s Department will continue to notify residents regarding level 1 and level 2 pre-evacuations. Please contact the Sheriff’s department for any questions related to evacuations at (208) 756-8980.
