Crews report 50 percent containment of stubborn Idaho Elkhorn Fire

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Hot temperatures combined with hot winds to fan three wildfires burning in dry timber stands in the central Idaho mountains, but fire crews reported progress on the stubborn Elkhorn fire.

Fire managers worried that the Quartz Creek Fire could threaten federally protected chinook salmon, but firefighters made headway Sunday on the Elkhorn fire, burning at high elevation in densely forested slopes six miles northeast of the village of North Fork.

The fire grew by about 50 acres early Sunday, said Steve Butterworth, spokesman for the interagency team battling the blaze.

"We had a really good day today," he said Sunday evening. "The ground crews and the helicopters worked very well together and the weather cooperated, and so we can call the fire 50 percent contained."

The blaze, caused by lightning July 20, has charred 852 acres, or 1.3 square miles, of the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Butterworth said. "We're hoping to have it contained by July 27" — Thursday, exactly a week after it began.

Crews worried that spot fires could ignite as the blaze threw sparks and fiery debris ahead of the flames. The volatile mix of dry tinder, temperatures around 100 degrees and steep, rocky terrain have made the fire the "number one priority" for the National Interagency Fire Control Center in Boise.

About 300 people were on the fire Sunday, working with seven helicopters that were "either doing recon or ferrying crews or dropping water or carrying cargo," Butterworth said.

The terrain is too steep for dozers or engines, he said. "It's hot, hard and dangerous work."

Meanwhile, the Quartz Creek Fire burning thick stands of lodgepole pine and alpine fir four miles north of Yellow Pine in the Payette National Forest, grew 10 acres on Sunday to 90 acres.

On Sunday, 60 firefighters were anchoring a fire line atop a high ridge in hopes of holding the blaze within its current boundaries. There is concern the fire could spread northward into the Quartz Creek drainage area.

A wildlife specialist is assisting fire crews, said Wade Alonzo, a spokesman for the interagency team attached to the blaze. A network of streams in the area is prime habitat for endangered populations of chinook salmon, bull trout and steelhead.

As fire crews draw water, they are "taking extra precaution to protect sensitive species by reducing any silt, retardant or oil and gas that could make its way into the streams," Alonzo said.