STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Light rain showers and cooler temperatures primarily in the upper 70s helped firefighters get the upper hand Tuesday on a fire in Muldoon Canyon.
Firefighters spent Tuesday working to improve containment lines and mop up hot spots on the Martin Canyon Fire, which lies three miles east of Bellevue. Crews worked with aircraft to stop the progression on the northeast flank.
Thunderstorms wreaked havoc with the fire on Monday, grounding aircraft and fanning flames on the northeast flank. On Tuesday winds were practically negligible by comparison’s sake.
Firefighters estimate the fire has burned 4,072 acres of grass, sagebrush, aspen and Douglas Fir. They hope to contain it by 6 p.m. today—Wednesday, July 26. They hope to have it controlled by 6 p.m. Friday, July 28.
The fire was started just before 3 p.m. by a target shooter who shot into an area that had not been cleared. Firefighters say grasses and other fuels are as dry as you normally find in mid-August, despite record-breaking snowfall last winter.
“The desert is ready to explode,” said one BLM firefighter.
About 150 firefighters are fighting the fire. The equipment involved includes four Twin Falls District BLM engines, two Sawtooth National Forest engines, three dozers, one water tender, four type two hand crews, four type one hand crews, one camp crew, eight overhead, four single engine air tankers, three helicopters and two scooper planes.
Muldoon Canyon Road remains closed from the entrance of EE-DA-HO Ranch to Muldoon. It also is closed from the Little Wood Reservoir Dam to Muldoon.