OWYHEE COUNTY, Idaho — The Big Grass Fire has grown to more than 440,000 acres as more than 1,000 firefighters from across the country continue battling extreme heat, dry terrain and dwindling water sources.
"It's difficult. I mean, this is occurring all over the western United States right now. We've got folks on multiple fires," Jaime Hidalgo, Operations Sector Chief with the U.S. Forest Service, said. "Speaking to specifically ours, it's very challenging ground. I don't think we've seen a temperature out here under 90."
WATCH: Fire officials on the challenging conditions
Just under two weeks ago, I rode through the area with Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue and Owyhee County Sheriff Larry Kendrick, where local ranchers were calling for more resources as flames tore across the landscape.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | 'Time is of the essence': Officials push for more resources as Big Grass Fire grows in Owyhee County
The U.S. Forest Service provided another look at what crews are up against, taking us to the Triangle Creek area, where firefighters are working to build and reinforce a containment line designed to stop the fire's eastward progress.
"This fire has consistently shown that it wants to progress to the east, so this line is going to be one of our primary control features," Hidalgo said.
Fire officials say weeks of extreme heat, dry fuels and difficult terrain continue to make the fight challenging. Water sources across the area have also been severely impacted.
"All of the creeks and rivers that typically would have water in them are either extremely low or dry, and that's — speaking with some of the local residents out here — it's not typical to see that," Hidalgo said.
Crews are relying on portable containment pools that can hold about 5,000 gallons of water to support firefighting operations.
Despite those challenges, officials say crews continue to make progress. A full suppression strategy remains in place to protect homes, livestock, critical infrastructure and historic communities like Silver City.
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"We're focusing on the northeast portion of the fire, so there's a lot of personnel concentrated in this area, and then the southeast portion of the fire — that's where we continue to have growth and challenges as it pertains to containment," Hidalgo said.
In areas where terrain is too difficult for firefighters to safely reach, crews are relying on aircraft to drop retardant.
"We've largely been getting all of the aircraft we've been requesting," Hidalgo said. "There are times where we can certainly use more based on activity or daily activity on the fire, but our air attack supervision has been working very closely with us."
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