Even as the fall season knocks on our door, there were 96 wildfires burning on Sept 9. and campers should be wary.
One of the nation’s largest wildfires right now is the Moose Fire, burning northwest of Salmon, Idaho.
Driving winds pushed it to over 120,000 acres Wednesday night. Evacuations have taken place, and it is threatening municipal water resources.
Chuck Mark is the forest supervisor of the Salmon Challis National Forest, where that fire is burning. He says his fire season started in the Southwest, where the massive Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire threatened water resources for Las Vegas, New Mexico.
“And little did I know that, here we are, one, two, three, four months later, we’d be fighting fire in our backyard here in Salmon to try to preserve our municipal watershed here,” he said.
The night that the blaze took off, fire personnel discussedother small wildfires they’d had to deal with recently, too, including from campfires in an area where they aren’t allowed.
Even as evenings cool off in many areas, brush is still dry from summer heat waves. Campers should be careful with their fires and check fire regulations. Residents should prep evacuation go-bags if they live in an area that could be affected by wildfire.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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