Wildfire outside Boise contained, but others affect air quality. More storms on way?
A wildfire that started last week in Boise County near Arrowrock Dam has been contained, officials said, while recent lightning ignited a number of small fires this week in Idaho.
Meanwhile, blazes burning in California are blowing smoke back into the Treasure Valley this week.
The Deer Fire, which ignited on the afternoon of July 28, burned 856 acres about 12 miles northeast of Boise, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The lightning-caused fire was contained on Monday, but crews are still working to check hot spots, assess the damage and repair the landscape, according to Venetia Gempler, a spokesperson for the Forest Service.
No structures burned in the fire, she said.
But other small fires were also ignited by lightning in the Boise National Forest in weekend storms, and a couple of them have yet to be contained. Two fires under an acre in size apiece are burning close to each other a few miles east of Smiths Ferry, according to the Boise Interagency Dispatch Center website.
Other larger fires are still burning in the northern regions of the state. The more than 43,000-acre Dixie-Jumbo Fire is burning southeast of Grangeville and is only 12% contained, according to the fire information website. Along the Idaho-Montana state line, 35 miles southwest of Missoula, multiple fires in the Granite Pass Complex are burning 5,739 acres of heavy brush and timber.
SMOKE AND STORMS
On Wednesday, high-altitude smoke from fires in California is expected to continue to blow through the Treasure Valley, according to the National Weather Service. The air quality in the region was expected to be moderate on Wednesday, or yellow, according to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, which issued the same air quality forecast for Thursday.
“Smoke impacts from regional wildfire activity are expected to continue throughout the area,” according to a Tuesday news release.
Thunderstorms and gusty winds are possible Wednesday evening in Boise, as well as on Thursday and Friday, according to the Weather Service forecast.
Temperatures for the week were expected to peak on Wednesday at 99 degrees. The high is expected to be 94 on Thursday, with a cool-down to 84 on Friday. Temperatures should hover around 90 on the weekend.
