4 new fire detected in Salmon-Challis National Forest

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

Rancherio Fire (August 23): The lightning fire, burning in a snag, was located approximately three miles southwest of the confluence of Panther Creek and the Main Salmon River North Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the 2007 Clear Sage Fire. The 0.10 acre fire was called out on August 27. 

Colson Fire (August 26): The lightning fire, burning in lodgepole pine, was located approximately two miles southwest of Long Tom Lookout between Colson and Long Tom Creeks on the North Fork Ranger District in the 2012 Mustang Complex. The 0.10 acre fire was called out on August 26. 

Castro Fire (August 25): The lightning fire, burning in a single tree, was located approximately three miles southwest of Pinyon Peak on the Middle Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the 2012 Halstead Fire. The 0.10 acre fire was called out on August 26.

Cyanide Fire (August 25): The lightning fire, burning in grass and pine litter, was located approximately ½ mile east of Gibbonsville on the North Fork Ranger District. The 0.10 acre fire was called out on August 26. 

Mule Fire (August 23): The lightning fire, burning in dead/down fuels, was located approximately one (1) mile southwest of Indian Creek airstrip on the Middle Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the 2000 Little Pistol Fire. The 0.10 acre fire was called out on August 24. 

Crane Fire (August 17): The fire is estimated at approximately one (1) acre. The fire is located southeast of Bernard Mountain on the edge of the Middle Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in 2010 Little Beaver Complex Fire. The fire is burning in subalpine fir & heavy dead/down fuels. The fire is creeping and smoldering. Firefighter and public safety are the number one priority on the Crane Fire. Due to the remote location of the fire, the steep and inaccessible terrain, and a heavy snag component in the fire area along with the predicted weather, fire managers will be monitoring the fire by reconnaissance flights and ground resources from strategic points outside of the wilderness. 

Chilcoot Fire (August 11): The fire is estimated at approximately 685 acres burning in spruce and fir. The fire is located approximately two 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. The Chilcoot Fire can be found on InciWeb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/idscf-chilcoot-fire. 

Wilson Fire (August 9): The fire, 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 0.10 acre fire, burning in grass and mountain mahogany in the 2000 Aperejo Fire, was called out on August 24. 

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

To date, there have been 21 wildfires detected on the Salmon-Challis National Forest. 18 of these fires have been declared out. 

Nationally, there are 58 uncontained large fires being managed under a full suppression strategy and 46 large fires managed under a strategy other than full suppression.