Lightning sparks new North Idaho fires

Wednesday night’s lightning storm touched off at least three fires on the west side of Priest Lake, while the nearby North Fork Hughes fire has been burning for three weeks, officials with the Idaho Panhandle National Forests reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Trestle Peak Fire — located east of Sandpoint on Trestle Ridge — is currently estimated at 40 acres.

The three new fires are Reeder Mountain, Nickel and Little Granite, with the first of those estimated at 8 acres on a steep, rocky slope near a patch of recently blown-down timber on the northeast side of Reeder Mountain. The other two fires are approximately one-tenth of an acre each.

Officials report the North Fork Hughes Fire, located just north of Hughes Meadows across the Washington state line, is about 70 acres in size. Caused by a June 28 lightning storm, this fire is being allowed to burn toward a location where firefighters can more safely attack it.

The Trestle Peak Fire is being fought by two Type 2 IA crews, 10 smokejumpers, 3 IDL/FS engines with crews and an additional 15 local firefighters. Retardant drops, a helitack crew, heavy and medium helicopters, water-scooping fire bosses, and air attack have successfully limited the fire’s spread despite Thursday’s strong winds, IPNF officials said.

Four other fires in the area have been successfully controlled: Taffy Creek, Strawberry Creek, Lightning Creek and Wylie.

There are hundreds of fires burning throughout Montana, Idaho and Washington and resources are spread very thin, IPNF officials said. Lightning is notorious in this area for causing “holdover” fires that can appear many days later, especially in the current dry conditions.

For more information, please contact the Priest Lake Ranger District office at (208) 443-2512.