Incidents All News

Incident Activity: Repairs to containment line built by dozers and firefighters to prevent the Valley Fire from reaching homes and communities is complete. Heavy equipment operators and firefighters restored 33 miles of dozer and handline, returning it to a more natural state ready for regrowth. Erosion control was built into the repairs and seeding of those lines by fire crews is finished. The seed was carefully selected for the Boise Foothills landscape.

Incident Activity: Containment has reached 95%. There may still be smoke visible from inside the fire perimeter in areas of timber but this is to be expected. These smokes are isolated and not a threat to fire growth or containment. Suppression repair work Saturday covered a lot of ground with 90% of the 33 miles of dozer and handline created to contain the Valley Fire now repaired to a more natural state ready for regrowth. The seeding of these areas will be the focus of today’s work by firefighters. Repair and seeding work should be near completion Monday.

Incident Activity: About 65% of the 33 miles of dozer and handline created to contain the Valley Fire has been repaired to a more natural state ready for regrowth. That percentage is expected to increase significantly today. Suppression repair work will be more visible in Southeast Boise this weekend. Firefighters and heavy equipment operators will be making repairs in steep areas near Council Spring Road in Harris Ranch. This is challenging work and it is important that the public honor trail closures for firefighter and public safety. Seed has arrived at the Valley Fire Incident Command.

Incident Activity: Fire crews continue to be located at the Valley Fire Incident Command/Fire Camp sleeping in tents and continue to get an early start with overnight temperatures below freezing. Rapid progress is being made on repairing the impacts of firefighting. All efforts are now going to suppression repair thanks to success in addressing hot spots near the Robie Creek area and securing containment lines. Some smoke is still visible in the fire interior but is not a threat to containment.

Incident Activity: A cold front moved into the Valley Fire area on Wednesday bringing clouds, rain and wind. This forced a pause in fire suppression repair work for firefighter safety and to prevent damage to the landscape from the movement of heavy equipment on wet soil. Rain was light and the ground is dry enough today for ongoing fire suppression repairs to dozer and handline this morning. The rain helped decrease fire activity in the remaining hot spots on the north/northeast portion of the fire closest to Robie Creek.

Incident Activity: Fire crews and aircraft continue to focus on hot spots on the north/northeast portion of the fire closest to Robie Creek. This hard work has resulted in the lifting of the “Ready” evacuation status for the Robie Creek community and a boost to 90% containment. Rain in the forecast for this afternoon could impact suppression repair work due to potentially muddy conditions.

Incident Activity: There are still hot spots on the north/northeast portion of the fire closest to Robie Creek. Helicopter water drops Monday helped ground crews address areas of remaining burning fuels. Crews continue with mop up and are monitoring containment lines. Fire activity remains a safe distance from the community. Crews continue to monitor the south and west portions of the fire burn area visible from Boise.

Incident Activity: Firefighting aircraft flights over the Valley Fire were suspended Sunday because another private drone was in the NO FLY ZONE. Please remember, flying drones in the fire area is NOT ALLOWED. Drones pose a safety risk for firefighting aircraft and medical rescues that require an airlift. Fire crews continue making progress in the north/northeast portion of the fire closest to Robie Creek and are extinguishing hot spots further inside the fire perimeter. Fire activity remains a safe distance from the community.

Incident Activity: Containment grew to 79% thanks to helicopter water drops and the work of ground crews. A large portable water holding container is now in place in the north area of the fire. This decreases travel time for water tender engines. The water is used to extinguish hot spots and further strengthen containment line. The north/northeast portion of the fire is still the most active. Ground crews will be moving further into the fire footprint to address the remaining interior burning. Fire activity is still a safe distance from the community of Robie Creek.

Fire Containment Line Breakdown: There are 22 miles of dozer line. 21 miles of that line is considered contained which means the fire is not expected to cross that line moving forward. There are several miles of handline which is line built by firefighters along the fire perimeter. There is around 7 miles of uncontained line. The public may notice changes in the landscape because of this fire suppression work. That work was successful in preventing the fire from reaching homes in Boise.