Single Publication

Wapiti Fire Update

Friday, September 6, 2024 – 9:00 a.m.

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1

Dan Dallas, Incident Commander 

Information Phone: 208-593-7132 (public)  208-901-8973 (media) 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

Interactive Map: https://tinyurl.com/WapitiFireInfoMap

Special Notes: Today is Rocky Mountain CIMT1’s final day on Wapiti Fire as we reach the end of our 14-day tour. We will be transitioning to Great Basin CIMT7 tomorrow morning. We thank the local agencies, our cooperators, and especially the wonderful people of this area for your support, patience, and grace during our time here.

Rocky Mountain CIMT1 hosted a community meeting in Stanley yesterday. The meeting was video recorded and can be viewed on our Facebook page at the link above.

State Highway 21 remains closed from east of Lowman to Stanley (MP84 to MP130) due to wildfire activity. Highway 75 remains open.

Current Situation: Fire behavior was moderate yesterday, and acreage growth was limited. Wapiti Fire now stands at 113,280 acres, and it is 12% contained. As the threat to structures and communities around much of the fire has been reduced by weeks of the hard work of firefighters, management of the fire in some respects is now a waiting game with the weather. Firefighters continue to work both day and night to ensure values at risk around the fire are protected. Crews will continue to improve firelines, mop up, hold, and patrol the fire’s edge in portions of the fire that are safe to work in. In other areas, the focus is on actions to reduce the intensity or rate of spread of the fire should it approach indirect control features. The Highway 21 corridor on the west side of the fire is now the highest priority for protection of values at risk. Crews continue to work in this area to reinforce control lines and deploy structure protection equipment while systematically working to slow the fire’s advance. Plans are in place should the fire imminently threaten communities. Each day we can slow the fire’s advance brings us closer to fall moisture. 

Division DD: Crews continue improving the fuels break along the Decker Flats Road south of the Fish Hatchery in the event the fires moves out of the Wilderness. Options for extending the line further south are being assessed. The fire in the Wilderness is slowly growing towards the south and east but is not threatening values at this time.

Division HH: The indirect fireline around Goat Falls, Stanley, nearby communities, and down to the Stanley Ranger Station is complete. Some personnel are being moved from this location to other priority areas of the fire.

Division KK and Structure Group East: Much of this division is now contained. Work to secure, mop up, and patrol will continue along the entire division. The large spot east of Highway 21 is contained and in patrol status. 

Division PP: Crews have contained the western edge of the finger of the fire that crossed Highway 21. A spot near the tip of this finger is burning very slowly in the Halstead fire scar and is not a priority for action at this time. Chipping operations are underway to reduce fuels in the Highway 21 corridor near Thatcher Creek. Crews have completed structure prep work at Bradley Boy Scout Camp and remain on alert in the area.

Division MM: Crews continue to grid for spots, mop up, and hold firelines within the Bull Trout Lake area. The fire is hung up in rocky areas on Copper Mountain, showing little advancement. Plans are in place to reduce fire intensity and slow its progress with firing operations if it moves off Copper Mountain into heavier timber. 

Division WW and Structure Group West:  The Highway 21 corridor in Division WW is now the highest priority area in the fire. Efforts are focused on slowly backing the fire down from Eight Mile Ridge at a controlled rate. This is accomplished with aircraft water drops when conditions allow and firing operations to keep the fire from making runs back towards Warm Springs airstrip. Crews are working in Chapman Creek on the south side of Highway 21 to hold the fire’s progress at the bottom of the drainage. The fire is backing through a triangle of fuels near the highway. Firing operations will be used as needed in this area. Structure preparation work around Sourdough Lodge and the subdivisions of Two Ravens, Ten Ax, and Seven Peaks is essentially complete. Personnel will remain in place to maintain equipment and be alert to any threats. Crews continue patrolling within Hanging Valley and the Wapiti Creek area, along the 524 road, and the Grandjean area.

Division VV: The fire is slowly backing in this remote unroaded division. Fire managers use IR imagery and aircraft reconnaissance to assess fire movement and the potential need for any actions.

Weather, Fuels, and Fire Behavior: 

A high-pressure system continues over the area, with sunny, warm, dry conditions. Temperatures will reach 80 degrees, and humidity will fall into the teens. Lower elevations will remain smoky under an inversion until around 1:00 pm. Winds will continue to be light and out of the southwest to west. Sunny warm weather is resulting in fuels continuing to dry, making for the possibility of  challenging fire behavior today. 

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/.

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

To sign up for Boise County Alert Sense emergency notification enroll online at https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/publicUser.aspx?regionid=1163

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: 0414-04-151 for portions of the Boise, Sawtooth, and Salmon-Challis National Forests can be found at this site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/sawtooth/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 113,280 acres  

Containment: 12%

Total Personnel: 1551

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

   Interactive Map:  https://tinyurl.com/WapitiFireInfoMap