Single Publication

Fire Size: 2,402 

Cause: lightning 

Location: approximately two (2) miles southwest of the confluence of Panther Creek and the Main Salmon River on the North Fork Ranger District in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. 

Fuels: grass, brush, dead and down fuels, and timber

InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idscf-garden-fire  

Fire situation:  Firefighter and public safety is the number one priority for the Garden Fire.  The fire is backing with moderate to active fire behavior with smoke continuing to be visible in lower Panther Creek and along the Main Salmon River. Firefighters currently are not observing long range spotting and potential for crown fire is low due to the fire burning in the 2000 Clear Creek Fire and adjacent to the 2007 Clear Sage Fire. However, fire managers have observed fire growth anywhere from 500 to 1,200 acres in a single day.  Smoke continues to drift into the North Fork and Salmon areas from the Garden Fire and other fires to the west. 

The fire is growing mainly to the south into Clear Creek and is flanking to the east and west on those sides of the fires.  Infrared flights are currently planned every other night, acreage will be updated at that time.  Fire managers are using a point protection strategy (a wildfire response strategy, which protects specific assets or highly valued resources from the wildfire without directly halting the continued spread of the wildfire) to minimize exposure to fire personnel while protecting identified values, including private property and Forest Service infrastructure. Firefighters will continue to be on the ground patrolling the Panther Creek and Salmon River areas and will use aerial reconnaissance as necessary.  Visitors using the Garden Creek or Clear Creek trails are encouraged to #KnowBeforeYouGo and to be aware of the fire activity in the area.  Trailheads are posted with fire information.  The fire will be updated every Monday in the weekly Salmon-Challis National Forest Fire Summary or if there is significant change in fire activity. 

Weather:  A dry cold front will arrive this afternoon. Expect near red flag conditions today with humidities in the teens and winds gusting 20 to 25 mph this afternoon. Lighter winds are expected for Thursday. But another cold front will arrive for Friday and wind gusts could fall in the 25 to 35 mph range.

Visit our website at: www.fs.usda.gov/scnf/, ‘Like Us’ on Facebook @salmonchallisnf, and ‘Follow Us’ on X @salmonchallisnf. 

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