Officials: Trinity Ridge Fire posing “serious health threat”
Fire Managers say the huge Trinity Ridge Fire in Elmore County is creating a serious health threat to residents and crews in the area, from the thick smoke in the valley.
Every day, the smoke persists into the afternoons because of inversions in the area.
Featherville residents are still evacuated with limited access to their property based on day-to-day fire status. On Tuesday, Featherville residents were allowed to go in for a limited time, but no one was allowed to check their property on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Pine residents were allowed to access the area from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM without permits. Fire conditions allowing, Pine residents will continue to have access to their homes and property daily from 9 to 7, officials say.
Officials report the residents were very surprised to see how limited the damage was to the surrounding forest, and all found their homes undamaged by the fire. One resident even described how the firefighters cut and stacked the wood in her yard.
The Elmore County Sheriff consults daily with Fire Incident Commander Beth Lund to assess when it will be safe to let Featherville residents back to check their homes, and ultimately when officials can lift the evacuation order and let residents return to their homes permanently.
Residents in the Pine/Featherville areas can stay informed by attending daily community meetings at 10:30 A.M, listening to the radio, calling the fire information line at 208-653-2164, or calling the Sheriff’s Incident Command at 208-590-3845.
So far, the Trinity Ridge Fire has blacked some 139,000 acres. It’s only 10 percent contained, with full containment not expected until sometime in October.
With the Labor Day weekend approaching, officials remind everyone that all recreation areas are still closed, by order of the Boise National Forest, and no one will be allowed to enter the area towing RVs or ATVs, etc. Checkpoints are still in place and all residents must show identification and proof of residence. Areas below Anderson Ranch dam are unaffected by the closure order.
(photo: courtesy inciweb.org)
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