Single Publication

Fire Location:

Wolf Creek: 5 miles W of Donnelly, ID 

Boulder: 9 miles SW of Cascade, ID 

Size: 

Wolf Creek: 1149 acres

Boulder: 1023 acres 

Containment: 

Wolf Creek: 14%

Boulder: 6% 

Personnel: 

Wolf Creek: 173 

Boulder: 461 

Start Date: 

Both Fires: 7/24/2024 

Cause:

Both Fires: lightning 

Incident Commander: 

Mike Johnston, Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team #7 

Summary: The Boulder and Wolf Creek Fires started on the evening of Wednesday, July 24, 2024. On July 31, an incident management team was delegated the West Mountain Complex which includes Boulder, Wapiti, and Bulltrout Fires on the Boise National Forest, and the Wolf Creek Fire on the Payette National Forest. The team is using a full suppression strategy on these lightning-caused fires. Please avoid high traffic fire areas, slow down while driving, and give the firefighters room to do their work. Be aware of aerial resources and give them plenty of space while recreating on Lake Cascade if they pull water from the reservoir. 

Weather | Anticipated Fire Behavior: Yesterday’s temperatures remained in the 70’s over both fires and are forecast to remain the same for tomorrow. Relative humidity will remain in the 15-20% range which will result in the curing and drying out of both fine and heavy fuels. Starting today there will be a shift in the wind direction with winds coming out of the northwest with gusts up to 15mph. Over the next few days, we will see single tree torching transition into group torching due to the lower relative humidities. Spot fires from may travel up to 1/3 of a mile due to torching of subalpine fir combined with the predicted wind.  

Actions: The Cascade area received several new fire starts on Monday evening on both the Boise and Payette National Forests. Alongside the local unit, the Incident Management Team is coordinating shared resources to staff those new starts. Beginning Wednesday, crews on the Boulder Fire will begin a firing operation to aid in suppression of the fire. This operation will help to modify fire behavior on the landscape in a predictable way and under specific conditions to keep the fire within primary containment lines. Updates on the operation will be provided each day. Firefighter and public safety as well as the protection of values at risk remains the top priority of the team through all suppression efforts.  

Boulder Fire: Anchors on the southside of the fire are holding despite increased fire activity. Operational and crew overhead spent yesterday scouting the planned burn area in preparation to start the firing operation today. Additional hand and machine work was completed along the Fawn Creek (#421) spur roads, these roads will be used as check lines to hold the fire when needed. There will be crews working both a day and night shift until the firing operation is complete, which includes burning, mop-up and monitoring. Aviation resources will support crews throughout the operation.  

Wolf Creek Fire: Due to the tireless work of firefighters, we have reach 14% containment on the fire along the east side. We have seen minimal fire movement on the west flank of the fire and current hand and dozer lines are holding the fire. Crews continue to work along the Little Weiser River drainage to tie both hand and dozer lines into Forest Road #763. Additionally, a dozer line has been constructed around the larger spot fires on the northeast side. These efforts are to protect the values at risk on that side of the fire.  

Important Information: The Boise National Forest has issued a closure order #0402-04-98 for National Forest System (NFS) roads, trails and lands encompassing the Boulder Fire. The closure was enacted to protect public safety and support fire suppression activities. The closure includes Blue Lake and Snowbank Mountain Road (#446) along with all #404 and #421 system roads. Near the Wolf Creek Fire, Forest Road #435 (Anderson Lake Road) was closed on August 1.  For more information on closures on the Boise National Forest please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices