Two forest fires burning in Idaho panhandle; larger blaze located in Boundary County

July 4, 2015

Forest fires are burning right now in at least two areas of the Idaho Panhandle, one of the larger fires being located in Boundary County, according to information from the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. According to these reports, a fire of approximately 25 acre size is burning near Baker's Camp, an area in the general vicinity of the West Fork Cabin on the west side in northern Boundary County. These reports, last updated yesterday, July 3, at approximately 2:15 p.m., indicate that aircraft have been assigned to help battle this fire; presumably ground-based firefighting personnel are also involved. At this time no additional information is available. We will continue to update with more information on this fire as it becomes available. The other Idaho Panhandle fire is the Blacktail fire, located on the west side of Priest Lake, about four miles west of the lake, and six miles north of Nordman. The Blacktail Fire is a lightning-caused fire, reported on July 1, and at last report involved approximately six acres located in rough terrain. At the time of the most recent reports (4:00 p.m. on July 3), 52 firefighters were involved in battling the blaze, along with multiple aircraft resources. Wind conditions in the area and high temperatures are expected to increase the risk of possible growth of the fire. Again, we will continue to provide updated information on both of these fires as that information becomes available.