Thursday, March 28, 2024
 
Click HERE to sign up to receive Eye On Sun Valley's Daily News Email
 
Firefighters Save Homes. COVID Cancels Football, Music Festival
Loading
   
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
 

STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

COVID GRAPHS BY PAUL RIES

Camas County workers began working Monday to replace a bridge destroyed in the Phillips Creek Fire.

The bridge on Soldier Creek Road was destroyed over the weekend by a fire that also ran through Soldier Mountain Ski Area, destroying the Magic Carpet but sparing the lodge and lifts.

Firefighters have saved a myriad of structures in the Phillips Creek Fire, which has burned 2,121 acres according to the latest mapping.

The fire, started by lightning eight miles north of Fairfield on Wednesday, Aug. 5, is being fought by 414 firefighters. It is currently most active in the northeast area around Reedy Creek.

It continues to smolder in drainages and draws of timber and aspen.

Firefighters are racing to do what they can before a expected winds of of 20 miles per hour out of the southwest ahead of a cold front today. But new fire activity is expected to be minimal.

A structure protection group is mopping up around structures in Phillips Creek and Free Gold Creek drainage. Others are working to limit growth on the northeast flank of the fire while still other crews are working to secure and improve the containment line on the south and southeast flanks.

Firefighters on the containment lines are mopping up and digging out hot, smoldering areas, mixing them with cool soil or water. They will grid from the containment line 50 feet into the fire to find hot or smoldering fuels and extinguish them. This will help keep hot materials from crossing the containment lines in strong winds and reigniting the fire in unburned grass and brush.

Afternoon winds and low humidity continue to pose problems with suppression.

The fire is now 86 percent contained, up from 7 percent the day before. Firefighters hope to contain it by midnight Saturday, Aug. 15.

The other notable Idaho fire right now is the 438-acre Pumpkin Fire near Placerville in the Boise National Forest. Helicopters and air tankers are being used to fight the fire, which saw minimal growth the past couple days.

Firefighters also fought a fire started by fireworks Sunday night along the grade going to Shoshone Falls Park in Twin Falls. The fire burned six acres, threatening a residence before firefighters put it out.

The Lake Walcott Fire nine miles east of Rupert has covered 1,392 acres but was to have been controlled Monday night.

COVID CANCEL FALL FOOTBALL

The Boise State Broncos will not get the opportunity to defend their conference title this fall. The Mountain West Conference cancelled all fall sports Monday afternoon because of the COVID pandemic.

Conference officials offered the possibility of rescheduling fall sports in the spring.

The Mid-American Conference announced over the weekend that they were cancelling fall sports.

STANLEY MUSIC FEST CANCELLED

The Sawtooth Valley Gathering scheduled for September in Stanley has been pushed back a second time—this time to the summer of 2021. The music festival was originally scheduled for late July.

“While we held out hope to be together…we just can’t find the ethical grounds to proceed as planned in light of the current COVID-19 status,” wrote James Fowler on Facebook.

BOISE GETS TO BE A VACCINE TESTING GROUND

Several hundred residents from Boise and other parts of the Treasure Valley are being sought to participate in a clinical trial for a COVID vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Vaccines are tested in hot spots where the virus is raging so that those receiving the vaccine have plenty of opportunity for exposure to test the vaccine’s effectiveness.

The vaccine, first tested in April, is one of several being fast-tracked through the federal approval process. Boise is one of 39 sites chosen to participate in this phase as the study hopes to recruit 30,000 volunteers nationally. Half of the volunteers will receive the vaccine; the other half, a placebo.

Candidates must be between the ages of 18 and 85, not pregnant, not already diagnosed with COVID-19. They will receive two injections three weeks apart and have follow-up visits for two years.

Candidates may visit www.solarisclinicalresearch.com/current-trials.html or call 208-288-0123 for more information.

NEW ZEALAND OFFERS A SAFE HAVEN DURING PANDEMIC

New Zealand marked a hundred days without a domestic transmission of the coronavirus this week, making the island of 5 million people one of the safest places in the world right now. But on Day 102 four cases were found in an Auckland household. Officials have asked residents of that city to stay home while they perform contact tracing to keep an outbreak at bay.

It currently has 23 active cases in managed isolation facilities. It’s had 1,219 cases so far and 22 deaths related to the virus.

At the same time, New York has turned things around. The state’s positivity rate—the number of positive results for every 100 tests—hit a record low of 0.78 percent this weekend. At its worst, New York had a positivity rate of 47 percent.

Nationwide? Not so good. The United States saw as many cases of infection in July as it did the first six months of the year combined.

SOCIAL DISTANCING PRESCRIBED FOR DOES

Deer in northern California are now being asked to socially distance after contracting the highly contagious adenovirus hemorrhagic disease. Symptoms include drooling, foaming at the mouth, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.

Facemasks could help, as well, since it’s possible the disease is transmitted through airborne routes. As with the novel coronavirus, there is no cure or vaccine.

Californians are being asked not to leave out garbage or place salt licks, which could attract groups of deer. The disease killed thousands of deer in the early 1990s in California.

WHO CARES YOU JUST ROLLED OUT OF BED!!!!?

An Illinois school district has banned students from wearing pajamas while taking part in online learning at home.  No slippers, either.

Turns out the ban on both are part of the school district’s dress code, which also prevents the wearing of hats, caps, bandanas, hoods, sweatbands and shoes with wheels in the buildings.

The ban has drawn the ire of parents who say “Let the kids be comfy” and “No one’s going to see them, anyway,” according to NBC4 in Illinois.

GYMS SPARED

The Central District Health Department in Ada County has been considering closing gyms in Boise and other Ada County cities because of rampant cases of coronavirus there. But officials removed gyms from the list because they were found not to be a significant source of transmission to date.

What have been problematic, health officials say, are barbecues and weddings where people are not social distancing and wearing masks.

Officials say hospitals in the Treasure Valley have had to reduce the number of elective surgeries they’re performing because of an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

THE IDAHO COUNT

Idaho reported 429 new cases of coronavirus on Monday after 176 on Sunday—a day not all health districts reported. The state passed the 25,000 mark on Monday, as it now has 25,100 cases.

The state has logged four more deaths in the past two days for 239 deaths.

Blaine County reported one new case on Monday for a total of 577 cases.


 

~  Today's Topics ~


Lou Whittaker Leaves Behind a Legacy of Mountaineering and Storytelling

Free Range Poetry Society to Hold Second Gathering Tonight

Easter Bunny to Begin Hopping Friday
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Website problems? Contact:
Michael Hobbs
General Manager /Webmaster
Mike@EyeOnSunValley.com
 
Got a story? Contact:
Karen Bossick
Editor in Chief
(208) 578-2111
Karen@EyeOnSunValley.com
 
 
Advertising /Marketing /Public Relations
Leisa Hollister
Chief Marketing Officer
(208) 450-9993
leisahollister@gmail.com
 
Brandi Huizar
Account Executive
(208) 329-2050
brandi@eyeonsunvalley.com
 
 
ABOUT US
EyeOnSunValley.com is the largest online daily news media service in The Wood River Valley, publishing 7 days a week. Our website publication features current news articles, feature stories, local sports articles and video content articles. The Eye On Sun Valley Show is a weekly primetime television show focusing on highlighted news stories of the week airing Monday-Sunday, COX Channel 13. See our interactive Kiosks around town throughout the Wood River Valley!
 
info@eyeonsunvalley.com      Press Releases only
 
P: 208.720.8212
P.O. Box 1453 Ketchum, ID  83340
LOGIN

© Copyright 2023 Eye on Sun Valley