IDAHO, USA — It's hot and dry - a perfect combination for wildfires, and a combination that is keeping wildland firefighters busy this summer.
Idaho Fish and Game's Idaho Fire Map shows there are about eight significant active fires burning in the Gem State.
In Round Valley, the Sixty Fire is burning near Cascade, close to the Timber Rim subdivision south of Sixty Lane.
The Idaho Department of Lands said that crews gained control of the 6.6 acre fire overnight. As of Monday evening, the fire was 60% contained, crews expect to fully contain the fire Tuesday.
The much larger Hayden Fire is burning 18,000 acres in Lemhi County, about 18 miles west of Leadore.
702 firefighters and support personnel are on the fire, and crews have been focused on building and connecting containment lines.
"There's kind of two small little heads on this fire, and [crews] have almost connected the lines that go around those two heads," Adam Solt, public information officer for the Hayden Fire said. "So that's kind of what their main activity has been the last few days."
The Hayden Fire is currently 77% "complete". Its estimated containment date is October 1.
"There's a lot of crews in the region, teams going out there fires in the vicinity of Salmon right now," Solt said. "And there's like smoke in the area from other fires as well. So we just want people to be safe with fire, look into their fire restrictions where you recreate."
The Midnight Fire, east of Grangeville, is 179 acres and 38% contained.
The Elkhorn Fire is along the Salmon River corridor in the Payette National Forest. On Sunday, the fire crossed the river onto the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. Some ranches near the fire have been impacted.
High winds helped the fire jump from 2,000 to 25,000 acres over a couple hours Sunday, making it Idaho's largest active fire. As of Sunday the fire had burned 24,025 acres.
"The fuels and terrain lined up perfectly in the wrong situation to expand that fire to the size that it did," Brian Harris, public affairs officer for the Payette National Forest said. "So we did have firefighters on site there, everybody is safe. We are spending today conducting additional structure protection in the area because, again, today we expect to have significant fire behavior as well."
Due to danger from the Elkhorn Fire, a section of the Salmon River from Corn Creek to Vinegar Creek is temporarily closed to rafters through August 2.
"We know that people come from all over the country to raft the Salmon River. It's very difficult for us to close the Salmon River, we really do anything and everything we can to keep that river corridor open," Harris said. "It's just unfortunately right now with the Elkhorn Fire and the fire activity that's taken place there, it's just not safe for anybody."
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