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Several active fires on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests grew significantly over the last few days. A return to warmer daytime and overnight temperatures, combined with consistent winds, has created a recipe for some fires to grow faster than Initial Attack efforts could suppress them. This will result in some access impacts on the forest as closures are put in place for public safety and fire managers develop strategies to look at longer-term planning for these incidents.

The Williams Creek Fire is located five miles West of Orogrande, ID in the Gospel Hump Wilderness. Fire size is approximately 626 acres with increased fire activity. Fire managers expect potential impacts to some roads and trails in the immediate fire area. Closure information will be available at http://bit.ly/NPCFireInfo and at your local ranger stations as soon as closures are finalized.

The Williams Creek Fire near Wildhorse Lake on the Red River District offered a very difficult initial response for firefighters due to heavy fuel loadings and difficult access options in the area. 

“District firefighters, smokejumpers, helitack personnel, and a combination of retardant tankers and helicopters hit the fire very hard immediately after detection on the afternoon of August 29,” said Fire Information Specialist Jim Wimer. “The fire was about 50 acres when aircraft had to shutdown for the day, and the fire continued to burn actively through the night, despite the best efforts of firefighters during initial attack. This has made it unsafe for firefighters on the ground to continue engaging the fire with the same strategy.” 

The nearest community to the Williams Creek Fire is Orogrande.

“The community of Orogrande has taken the initiative to move forward with fuels treatments and hazard reduction work in conjunction with the Forest Service in recent years. This has helped to create more options for firefighters to safely engage wildfires and protect the community from events just like this,” said Marty Mitzkus, Acting Forest Supervisor for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. “Firefighters on the ground and in the air at the Williams Creek Fire gave it everything they could to stop this fire that first day, but simply came up against too much dead and down fuels, and the fire outpaced them. Now, for their safety and the safety of the community of Orogrande, our efforts will be focused on the areas closer to the community where prior fuels treatments will give firefighters a better chance of success.”

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests fire information is available online at https://bit.ly/NPCFireInfo, on social media at www.facebook.com/NPClwNFs and www.twitter.com/NPClwNFs, on the forest’s official mobile app (search “Nez Perce Clearwater” in your app store), or by calling your local ranger station. Report all wildfires to the Grangeville Interagency Dispatch Center (208-983-6800) or call 911.