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Wildfires force closure of U.S. 12, evacuation warning for Hailey-Ketchum

Two raging forest fires in western Montana, branded the Lolo Complex Fire, forced closure of U.S. 12 near the Idaho-Montana state line Monday. The highway remains closed on both sides of Lolo Pass, severing the corridor at peak travel time.

Commercial and passenger vehicles are relegated to extensive detours – either using Interstate 90 through northern Idaho or Interstate 84 or U.S. 93 in south-central Idaho.

The closure, extending into its fifth day today (Friday, Aug. 13), is the longest on the heavily traveled highway since it was buried for two weeks by an avalanche in early 2008.

An average of about 1,000 vehicles travel on U.S. 12 daily in August. It provides travel from Lewiston and the Washington-Idaho border to Missoula, Mont., and is a crucial link for hundreds of residences and ranches, according to the Missoulian newspaper Thursday.

“We want to do everything we can to not impede with firefighting efforts,” said Mel Coulter of the Idaho Transportation Department. “The road closure is prudent to allow those people to do their job, and it is prudent to protect the traveling public so they don’t get into areas where they might also be in danger.”

“Of course we would like the road to reopen, but we encourage drivers to be patient – and to let the firefighting experts do what they do best,” he said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fire had blackened 8,600 acres of timber and grass eight miles west of Lolo, Mont., and threatened structures and resulting in evacuation notices.

Firefighters in central Idaho made steady improvements on fires that prompted pre-evacuation notices for residents of the Hailey-Ketchum area.

The Beaver Creek fire was the nation’s top-priority fire, covering more than 111,000 acres of timber, grass and brush about one mile east of Hailey. It was considered 67 percent contained Thursday with full containment predicted for Aug. 31.

Nearly 1,800 firefighters, divided into 30 crews, were on the fire lines, and suppression costs exceeded $18.7 million, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The Little Queens fire on the Salmon-Challis National Forest expanded to 10,352 acres by Friday morning and displaced residents of the Atlanta area. An evacuation order still was in effect.

Control of Idaho’s largest wildfire, the Elk Complex, reached about 95 percent containment Thursday, enabling fire managers to reduce manpower to about 137. The fire consumed 83 structures about 10 miles southwest of Pine. Suppression costs were estimated at $10 million.

Weather forecasters expected a one-day reprieve from temperatures in the 90s today (Friday), but warned of possible thunderstorms across southern and central Idaho. The weather front brought strong winds and lightning and sparked several new wildfires. As of Friday morning, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 15 active fires in Idaho, including new ones near Kooskia, Pierce and Yellow Pine.

Photos: Law enforcement officers block U.S. 12 traffic (top) as the Lolo Creek Complex fire obscures visibility; the fire east of Lolo Pass races through treetops. (Photos courtesy of the Missoulian, Missoula, Mont.) A shroud of smoke from the Beaver Creek fire near Hailey transformed the skyline, reminiscent of a volcano explosion (below left), and a helicopter dropped retardant to help contain the 110,000-acre inferno (below right).