All lanes of State Highway 55 closed north of Banks as wildfire threatens area

Traffic officials on Thursday closed a section of State Highway 55 north of Banks in both directions shortly after midnight on Thursday because of a wildfire threatening the area. 

The 19-mile closure stretches from just north of the Banks-Lowman Road intersection at mile marker 79 to about a mile north of the center of Smiths Ferry at mile marker 98.

All lanes remained closed to traffic as of 8:30 a.m., according to an Idaho Transportation Department news release. 

“Travelers should avoid the area and use an alternate route,” ITD said. “The closure is necessary to allow firefighters and emergency personnel to safely continue operations along the highway.”

The closure was also put in place as a public safety precaution. The fire could cause large rocks and other material to roll onto the highway, according to the Department of Lands. 

The Mile Marker 81 Fire was first reported at 3 a.m. Wednesday about 1.5 miles northeast of Banks near milepost 81 along the highway and had burned to 330 acres by 19 a.m. Thursday, the Idaho Department of Lands said. 

The department initially said it hoped to achieve containment by noon Thursday, but pushed the estimated containment time to noon Friday. A fire weather warning issued for 3 p.m. Thursday for potential lightning and wind could pose additional risks. 

The Department of Lands said on Wednesday evening that it had ordered another crew for support and a Type 3 incident commander — a type of commander trained to handle more difficult fire situations — was taking over management of the Mile Marker 81 Fire “due to the complexity of the incident.”

About 70 personnel and two helicopters were working to combat the fire on Thursday morning. “Firefighting efforts will focus on securing the fire edge and conducting burn out operations to reduce risk of the fire spotting,” the agency said in a news release.