Fire crews standing by
Jul. 10—GRANGEVILLE — Michael Blinn, program manager for the Grangeville Smokejumper Base, has witnessed some sensational wildfires in his 26 years as a firefighter for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests.
So, even though conditions this year differ considerably from a year ago when 100-plus-degree temperatures as early as June made the forests tinder-dry, Blinn said it's too early to predict how the fire season will turn out in 2022.
"That's the difficult part about fire management," Blinn said. "Not getting lulled into a false sense of confidence, because it's cloudy and cool right now. Things can dry out really fast and we do have a tremendous grass crop now because of the moist spring.
"It's kind of an old saying in the fire service — that I'll tell you how fire season's going to be in November."
Fire activity is relatively quiet in the Nez Perce-Clearwater forest at the moment. Many year-round firefighters have been deployed to Arizona, New Mexico or Alaska, where wildfire season has already begun (see related story on Page 2A). Those who remain in Grangeville are practicing their fire management skills and preparing for whatever may happen locally.
"Right now we have had a few small lightning starts but nothing that is really significant," Blinn said. "But it remains to be seen."
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Record heat, coupled with an extensive drought, created explosive conditions in Idaho forests in 2021.
By the end of September, nearly 1,200 fires had burned about 429,000 acres of land throughout the state, according to the National Interagency Fire Center based in Boise.
The Idaho Department of Lands reported 142,000 acres within its jurisdiction burned last year. Although the losses were extensive, they were below the modern state record of 1,980,552 acres that burned in 2007, the National Interagency Fire Center reported.
Some of the larger conflagrations in this area included the 43,000-acre Dixie-Jumbo fire near Dixie and along the Salmon River; the Snake River complex and the Lick Creek fire south and southwest of the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. Those burned more than 109,000 acres and 80,000 acres, respectively.
The Elbow Creek fire southwest of Troy, Ore., was finally contained at almost 23,000 acres.
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Nearly every year, Blinn said, some spot in the region is the scene of a major fire blow-up. Some of the stories from those backcountry wildfires are legendary.
As late as the 1880s, historians noted that wildfires were common along the lines of the three trails used for travel in the Bitterroot Reserve and Clearwater and Columbia basins by Nez Perce Indians.
"It is difficult to state with absolute certainty the reason why Indians burned the forest," according to U.S. Forest Service archives. "The probability is that many fires spread from their camps and others were purposely set to destroy the forest and encourage grass growth."
Later, as non-Indians moved into the area: "The fires kindled by white men have ravaged the forest areas of the reserve in thousands of places," archives reported.
"They have not been confined to any particular locality. Early discoveries of placer diggings at Florence, Elk City and Pierce had the effect of sending many prospectors to the most remote corners of the Clearwater basins, and wherever they went, fires and blackened ruins of the forest were left behind to mark their trails and camps."
In 1898, one traveler through north central Idaho made this observation:
"Fires devastated considerable areas of the reserve during the later portion of July and August ... notwithstanding the rules and regulations promulgated by the Interior Department for their prevention. The heaviest and most widespread fires in Idaho were in the Selway basin and in the upper South Fork of Clearwater basin around Elk City. ... That these fires owed their origin to carelessness or design can hardly be doubted. They burned without serious check until partially extinguished by rains in the beginning of September. It was clearly evident that the regulations of the Interior Department were not being very generally observed."
These are also from the Forest Service archives:
"On Aug. 29, 1919, Chas. Dunham lost 1,350 sheep in a forest fire near Adams Camp (Dome Hill). Two hundred and fifty were saved."
"The writer was involved with fires on the Oxford District of the Clearwater that year and, sometime about the middle of August, Jim Girard drifted in to assist. He had just come from the Nezperce and told about hiking a crew from Elk City to a fire somewhere in the vicinity of Salmon Mountain. Upon arrival at the fire, the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) element of the crew demanded bonus hours, like 16 hours' pay for 12 hours' work, or no work. It was against the policy to grant such demands, so Jim said, "No." He told them he would hike back to Elk City with them as there was no use for him to stay at the fire alone, and he did. The pay scale that year was 25 cents an hour for common firefighters; foremen, cooks, and packers were paid by the day with a $6 top."
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Firefighters these days make a little more than 25 cents an hour. But finding people willing to take the job, Blinn said, is becoming more difficult.
"We've made a pretty hard push in order to get as many folks on board as we could," he said. "As with all industries right now, it's difficult to find people that are interested in the job because we're in kind of a remote location. So it's a challenge to recruit people.
"But it seems like once we recruit them, retention isn't as hard, just because this is such a beautiful place to be."
Firefighting used to be a mainstay of college kids working through the summer to help pay tuition in the fall. These days, Blinn said, both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management are looking to recruit more year-round employees.
"The Forest Service, in general, seems to be moving toward a more permanent fire management workforce," Blinn said. "Just because, if you put that much time and effort into training somebody, then it's good to have that consistency and continuity down the road."
He noted that anyone who is interested in becoming a firefighter with the Nez Perce-Clearwater forests may inquire at any local Forest Service district office.
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An important aspect of managing wildfires is public relations. In Idaho and Clearwater counties, the public keeps a close eye on the workings of the Forest Service and its firefighters.
"One thing that I appreciate about the public," Blinn said, "is that, especially in Idaho County and central Idaho in general, there are people that are tied to the land. So they have strong opinions on what we're doing. But, also, they really seem to work to be informed on what our strategies are supposed to be and what our mandates are.
"So people are entitled to their opinion and we appreciate hearing that stuff so we know we are meeting our objectives and trying to help people out. And, you know, we're really managing the forest for the public. And so having that feedback is positive, because then you know which way you should be going."
Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com
