This year's wildfire season was relatively mild compared to recent years, but Idaho has seen its share of massive wildfires.
Here's a look at some of the biggest wildfires in Idaho history and how modern techniques help handle these destructive blazes.
The Great Fire of 1910
Known as the biggest fire in U.S. history, the Great Fire of 1910 burned approximately three million acres in northern Idaho and western Montana. The cause was never determined, but there are several theories.
Lightning, homesteaders, loggers, and even transient firefighters hoping to ensure future employment were all potential sources of the large number of small fires that sprang up across the region that summer. At least 100 fires were started by coal-powered locomotives on the newly completed Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railway. The engines spewed live cinders into the air, which then ignited the bone-dry forests.
Then, on Aug. 20, 1910, hurricane-force gusts roared from Washington into Idaho, turning the flames of 1,700 to 3,000 fires into one massive inferno.
"Trees by the millions became exploding candles," the U.S. Forest Service says. "Millions more trees, sucked from the ground, roots and all, became flying blowtorches."
About 86 people, mostly firefighters on the front lines, were killed in a two-day period, with much of the destruction occurring in a mere six hours.
Murphy Complex Fire
The Murphy Complex Fire in 2007 was the largest in Idaho since 1910. Hundreds of firefighters worked to contain the blaze, which burned 653,000 acres over two weeks in southern Idaho and northern Nevada.
Extreme weather conditions were contributing factors. In some areas, cattle grazing lessened the spread and intensity of fires by getting rid of shrubs and grass that otherwise would have served as fuel for the flames, according to the United States Geological Survey Technical Report.
The damage required a massive rehabilitation and stabilization effort by the Bureau of Land Management, with an initial investment of over $11 million for fencing, planting, seeding, weed treatment and monitoring for years afterward.
Beaver Creek Fire
This lightning strike fire began close to Fairfield and Hailey, in the Sawtooth National Forest. It raged for most of August 2013 and burned more than 114,000 acres, coating the Sun Valley resort area in a thick layer of ash.
It was an unpredictable blaze that jumped between ridges without warning and threatened multi-million-dollar houses in an area where Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks and Arnold Schwarzenegger owned homes. Private insurance companies sent crews to help protect these structures, and Sun Valley Resort used water cannons—usually reserved for making snow in winter—to keep trees and grass moist.
By the end of August, humidity and cloud cover helped to contain the flames.
How forest management can stop massive wildfires
While it may be impossible to prevent all wildfires, there are strategies that can slow and stop them.
For example, the 2011 Wallow Fire, a 40,000-acre fire in Arizona that threatened several forest-bound communities, was prevented from causing serious damage and loss of life through what Idaho Firewise calls the Triple Punch system.
First, professionals treated sections of trees with fuel beforehand to thin them and prevent the fire from jumping from tree crown to tree crown. This forced it to ground level and made it easier to fight. Second, firefighters were deployed quickly and effectively. Third, homeowners had developed and maintained a defensible space around buildings to make the spread of the fire from tree to structure difficult.
For more information about effective techniques for preventing wildfires, including what you can do, visit idahofirewise.org.
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