Parkway Fire 80% contained; Ridge Creek still at 0%

Fires continue to burn north of Hayden and in Post Falls, with some relief from weather and the round-the-clock work of firefighters and crews to contain the blazes.

PARKWAY FIRE

The Idaho Department of Lands is seeking information regarding the cause of the Parkway Fire that began Friday afternoon in Q’emiln Park, Post Falls Police reported Monday morning.

An unattended campfire caused the Parkway Fire, which was at 80% contained as of Monday evening, according to a 5 p.m. update from the Idaho Department of Lands.

The Parkway Fire started Friday and has burned roughly 80 acres in Post Falls so far, according to a Sunday social media post by the Idaho State Fire Marshal's Office.

"If we can find out who that person is, we'll go after them civilly," Idaho Department of Lands Communications Chief Scott Phillips told The Press.

The Idaho Department of Lands' standard policy is to pursue a civil case if negligence is determined to be a factor in the start of a blaze, Phillips said, to recoup the cost of fire suppression, which comes from the general fund.

"The negligence of the person or persons involved have caused great damage to a city park that will take years to recover from," Post Falls Police said in a news release. "The Post Falls Police Department is committed to thoroughly investigating this fire and holding the person or persons responsible for this negligent act."

Idaho Code Title 38-107 states “the person willfully or negligently responsible for the starting or existence of such fire shall be liable for the costs incurred by the state or its authorized agencies in controlling or extinguishing the same. The amount of such costs shall be recovered by a civil action prosecuted in the name of the state of Idaho and any amounts recovered shall be paid to the state treasurer for deposit to the forest protection fund.”

Anyone with information is urged to call the Post Falls Police Department at 208-773-3517 or email tips to detectives@postfallspolice.gov.

The Department of Lands will coordinate a civil investigation with the state fire marshal while Post Falls Police pursue a separate criminal investigation, Post Falls Police Capt. Mark Brantl told The Press. Post Falls Police are investigating the crime as a possible arson, based on negligence that allowed the campfire to ignite.

“We suspect it was a campfire and it was unintentional,” Brantl said. “But obviously if we find somebody they’ll have a side of the story.”

Based on Post Falls city ordinance, all people using local parks must comply with rules posted. It is posted that no fires are allowed in the forest outside of a designated fire site, like a barbecue or fire pit, Brantl said.

Officials reported the blaze is 50% contained and suppression lines have been developed around the flames. Some rain is expected in the forecast. Firefighters have been aggressively working to reach full containment.

"Overnight, crews made considerable progress in strengthening containment along the eastern edge of the fire near structures, mopping up a swath nearly 100 feet wide from the edge of the fire toward the interior along nearly half of the incident’s perimeter," the Idaho Department of Lands said in a press release.

Q'emiln Park and the Post Falls Community Forest are closed until further notice while fire crews down burned and dangerous trees in the park and work to contain the western perimeter of the flames.

Given the significant containment gains and forecast for cooler weather, the incident management team assigned to the fire will likely demobilize today. Resources and personnel no longer needed will be deployed to other fires while the local fire district will take over the Parkway Fire work. Park officials are expected to install fencing on the western edge of the fire to cordon off some of the most dangerous areas. Dangers include dead trees and limbs that may fall, slopes destabilized by the fire and deep, burned-out stump holes.

RIDGE CREEK FIRE

The Ridge Creek Fire on the northern tip of Hayden Lake remains 0% contained and has grown to an estimated size of between 1,200 and 1,500 acres. The Eastern Area Incident Management Team, led by incident commander Steve Miller, assumed command of the fire Monday.

"You can well imagine, access into this fire is one of the issues that we're having," Eastern Area Incident Management Team information officer Clark McCreedy told The Press. "We’re in the business right now of improving access so we can get heavy equipment up to the fire."

Approximately 115 people are assigned to the fire, which is burning along Hayden Creek Road and in the Ridge Creek drainage. Crews are working directly on the fire and building fire lines, McCreedy said, particularly on the southern side of the fire where crews have an anchor point. He said they are in the process of ordering additional crews, engines and heavy equipment. Progress has been made on the southern end. He said one of the main focuses now is strategically looking at the landscape to most effectively build lines and improve access.

The cooler weather has been helpful to fire crews' efforts. McCreedy said prevailing winds have been out of the southwest, pushing the fire to the northeast, for the most part away from homes.

"We have some gusty winds and thunderstorms and that can cause difficulty, but with cloud cover and a little moisture, generally our hand crews can make progress," McCreedy said. "We don't have sunlight on the fire right now, we have good cloud cover. This gives our hand crews the opportunity to really be effective."

Residents in the Ridge Creek Fire area remain in the Level 1 "Get Ready" notification zone, which instructs them to create and maintain defensible space and harden their homes against flying embers. The next level, "Get Set," is one step away from the "Go" evacuation notice.

The Ridge Creek Fire began Thursday and was caused by humans, U.S. Forest Service officials have reported.

McCreedy said people recreationally using Hayden Lake should be keenly aware that firefighting aircraft will continue drawing water from the center of the lake.

"Given how rough and difficult the terrain is, we will continue to have a dependency on the use of aircraft and their source is Hayden Lake," he said. "The flight path is going to be right down the center of the lake, and they don’t have any way to deviate."

The Honeysuckle boat launch is again open. However, boaters should exercise caution and stay away from the middle of Hayden Lake, McCreedy said.

"We want folks to be safe, we want folks flying our aircraft to be safe,” he said.

An infrared flight for observation was expected to gather data Monday night.