Single Publication

Wapiti Fire Update

Sunday, August 25, 2024 – 9:00 a.m.

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1

Dan Dallas, Incident Commander

Information Phone: 208-593-7132 Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Email: 2024.wapiti@firenet.gov

InciWeb:https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-wapiti-fire

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/wapitifireinfo2024/

Information Linktree:https://linktr.ee/WapitiFireInfo2024

Special Notes: Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 (RM CIMT1) will be hosting a community meeting today, August 25, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the Stanley Community Building in Stanley, ID. The meeting will also be streamed live on Wapiti Fire Information 2024 Facebook page.

State Highway 21 is closed from east of Lowman to Stanley (MP84 to MP130) due to wildfire activity. The closure is necessary for public safety and to provide safe conditions for firefighters working along the highway.

Fire managers subdivide the fire perimeter on large complex fires like the Wapiti into branches and divisions to ensure effective management and safer operations. These daily updates will describe the fire’s activities and our suppression actions within these divisions, which are displayed on the accompanying fire maps. Note that branch numbers and division letters don’t always run sequentially to allow for expansion of additional branches/divisions if the fire grows.

Current Situation: Saturday, firefighters got a respite from multiple days of Red Flag Warnings and extreme burning conditions, which allowed them to make good progress on assessing current conditions and developing strategic suppression plans. Meanwhile, they continue to protect structures near the fire. The fire is now 68,457 acres and has progressed south of Stanley Lake, moving east towards Highway 21. It has also established itself in the Baron Creek drainage southwest of Stanley. The current focus is to continue protecting structures and communities with dozer and hand lines, air resources, and hose lays to protect the values at risk. This is a full suppression fire, and opportunities to contain the fire’s edge with control lines will be aggressively pursued where appropriate and safe to do so as additional resources arrive on the incident.

Division KK and Structure Group East: Crews will continue to mop up around structures in the Cow Camp area. The structure group in this division is constructing lines around Halstead, Iron Creek, Goat Falls, and Stanley communities using dozers and hand line and tying them into Highways 21 and 75. All activities are being coordinated on the ground with Resource Advisors to protect known values. These firelines will then be plumbed with hose lays, water tanks, pumps, and sprinkler systems for structure protection. Fire managers will look for opportunities to construct containment lines to check the fire’s progress south.

Division PP: Work continues to clear trees along the Highway 21 corridor and mop up the areas where the fire crossed the road. The objective is to open the road for safe travel for incident resources, mop up around structures, and establish containment lines to prevent future fire growth. Fire spread was limited on Saturday within this area, and today fire behavior should continue to be muted allowing for continued progress towards containment.

Division MM: Fire managers are assessing locations for constructing containment lines to arrest the north and northwest progression of the fire and working on point protection around structures within the area.

Division WW and Structure Group West: A UAS (Unmanned Aerial System, or drone) was used in the Warms Springs drainage to evaluate the fire’s progress west and identify opportunities for aerial ignition under controlled conditions to bring the fire down to the bottom of the drainage and contain it. There are no plans currently to initiate a firing operation in this area. Crews continue mopping up around structures to further secure them in the event fire activity increases. Fire managers are working with the Lowman Fire Chief to assess values at risk, point protection needs, and containment opportunities in that area between Warm Springs and Lowman along the Highway 21 corridor.

Weather, Fuels, and Fire Behavior:

A cold upper-level low pressure system will slowly depart Central Idaho today, with a 25% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms. The fire’s behavior will be substantially moderated again today with limited fire spread, and no appreciable growth of the fire is expected.

Evacuations:

For evacuation information on the Wapiti Fire, please see the Custer County Sheriff’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/p/Custer-County-Sheriff-Idaho-61558947312289/ and the Boise County Sheriff’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/boisecountysheriff/ .

Red Cross is set up in the Stanley Community Center to assist fire evacuees.

To sign up for Custer County CodeRED emergency notifications, text CUSTER to 99411 or enroll online at https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/BF28E45537FF .

Closures and Fire Restrictions:

State Highway 21 is closed from MP84 to MP130 for public and firefighter safety.

A Wapiti Fire Area Closure / Forest Order: 0402-05-95 for portions of the Boise, Sawtooth, and Salmon-Chalis National Forests can be found at this site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices .

Boise National Forest Stage 1 Fire Restrictions / Forest Order: 0402-00-63 can be found at this site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices .

Sawtooth National Forest Stage 1 Fire Restrictions / Forest Order 0414-00-044 can be found at this site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/sawtooth/alerts-notices .

Fire restrictions on state and private lands may be found at this site: https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/fire-restrictions-finder/ .

A Temporary Flight Restriction is in place over the Wapiti Fire. Wildfires are a no-fly zone for unauthorized aircraft, including drones. If you fly, we can’t. For more information, visit http://knowbeforeyoufly.org.

Wapiti Fire Statistics:

Size: over 68,457 acres

Containment: 0%

Total Personnel: 461

Location: Grandjean, ID

Reported: July 24, 2024

Cause: lightning

For More Information:

Information Phone: 208-593-7132

Email: 2024.wapiti@firenet.gov

InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-wapiti-fire

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wapitifireinfo2024/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/WapitiFireInfo2024