Update on Boundary County's Bakers Camp forest fire and other Idaho Panhandle fires

July 5, 2015

The Baker's Camp Fire, currently the largest fire in the northern Idaho panhandle, continues to burn as of yesterday afternoon, according to information provided by the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. As of about noon yesterday on Saturday, July 4, the fire near Baker's Camp had burned approximately 50 acres. The fire is located on steep terrain in the Smith Creek drainage area at the northern end of Boundary County on the west side, near the end of the Smith Creek Road. The fire was started with lightning strikes during the lightning storm that passed through our area last Monday, June 29. In the latest reports, fire officials say there is currently 0% containment of this fire. There are 58 firefighters assigned to the Baker's Camp Fire, along with multiple aircraft including several helicopters and the newest generation of tanker retardant planes. Six other fires have been burning in the area west of Priest Lake, including the Blacktail Fire, on which NewsBF reported yesterday. All of these fires are also the result of last Monday's lightning storm. The Blacktail Fire continues to be an approximately six acre fire, and now has a 20% containment perimeter. According to the latest report from about 6:00 p.m. on July 4, 32 firefighters and several helicopters have been assigned to the Blacktail Fire. Both the Baker's Camp Fire and the Blacktail Fire are being managed by Rodney Weeks North Idaho Type III Incident Management Team. The five other fires currently burning west of Priest Lake are being managed by the Fire Staff of the Priest Lake Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service. These five fires range in size from a few trees to a few acres. For a map showing the location and other details of all seven of these fires, including the Baker's Camp Fire, please click here. This map is provided by the U.S. Forest Service. We will continue to provide updates on the forest fire situation as it becomes available to us.