Single Publication

The West Mountain Complex includes five fires- Boulder, Snag, Wolf Creek, Dollar, and Goat Fires. Read our daily update for more information. Scroll to the bottom of the page for PDF versions of the daily update, the daily map, and the daily smoke report.

QUICK FACTS
Fire  |  Location  |  Size  |  Containment  |  Start Date
Boulder  |  9 miles SW of Cascade  |  2,134 acres  |  26%  |  7/24/2024
Wolf Creek  |  5 miles W of Donnelly  |  1,154 acres  |  88%  |  7/24/2024
Snag  |  11 miles E of Cascade  |  20,124 acres  |  0%  |  8/5/2024
Dollar  |  18 miles NE of Cascade  |  1,709 acres  |  0%   |  8/5/2024
Goat  |  11 miles SE of Cascade  |  1,145 acres  |  0%   |  8/5/2024
Gabe | 9 miles SW of Cascade | 4 acres | 0% | 8/15/2024

Cause: Lightning (All Fires)
Total Incident Personnel: 885

Weather | Anticipated Fire Behavior: 
Weather is expected to be hot, dry, and windy throughout the day. A Red Flag Warning is in effect due to unstable weather conditions. Expect higher temperatures today, with decreased humidity levels, settling around 15-20%. Winds will gust up to 20-30 mph on the highest ridgelines and exposed areas. Conditions will moderate Sunday into early next week, but will remain warm, dry, and breezy. Chances of thunderstorms throughout the weekend are low, with a slightly elevated chance on Monday.

Boulder Fire:       https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-boulder-fire
Fire crews on the Boulder Fire completed firing operations on the southeast perimeter, northwest of 421E Road. Firefighters will continue to monitor and mop-up in the firing operations area to ensure no hotspots exist. A focal area moving forward includes holding the northeastern perimeter of the fire to ensure no spotting occurs. “Holding” means keeping the fire from advancing beyond a specific boundary or containment line.

Snag Fire:     https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-snag-fire
The Valley County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with Great Basin Incident Management Team 2, have established one-way escorts for residents and contractors through the Snag Fire affected areas. This escort will be provided for reasons of necessity and not for recreation purposes. For more information visit: https://www.co.valley.id.us/news/post/1210.

Fire behavior on the Snag Fire the past several days has included backing and creeping. Fire activity is expected to increase on the fire due to unstable weather conditions present through the day today. Fire crews will continue to secure the perimeter of the fire, specifically engaging in direct and indirect attack along the western and southern portion. Going “direct” on a fireline refers to the tactic of directly engaging an active edge of a fire. Going “indirect” refers to a firefighting strategy where crews create a control line at a distance from the active fire edge. Fire crews are utilizing unused logging roads near the fire to engage in this tactic. Additionally, the fire is also burning near a previously burned area on the eastern fire’s edge, which is slowing forward progress.

Wolf Creek Fire:     https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idpaf-wolf-creek-fire
Containment on the Wolf Creek Fire increased today. Fire crews are monitoring the fire for internal hotspots and presence of visible smoke. Crews are also continuing rehabilitation of control lines. As the fire nears full containment, fire managers will look for opportunities to reassign firefighters to other fires being managed by the incident management team.

Dollar Fire:    https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-dollar-fire
Crews are working to slow fire spread on the southern perimeter of the Dollar Fire where it is most active by engaging in direct and indirect attack. Fire spread has been slowed on the rest of the fire perimeter by a previously burned area, as well as natural features like rock outcroppings.

Goat Fire:    https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-goat-fire
Aviation resources are tracking the Goat Fire’s spread northward toward the Snag Fire and eastward toward the Middle Fork Payette drainage. The western edge of the Goat Fire is adjacent to a previously burned area, which could help slow its progress. Fire managers are coordinating to allocate firefighting crews to the Goat Fire as progress is made on other fires being managed by the incident command team.

Gabe Fire:
The Gabe Fire is in a remote area near Snowbank Mountain and Gabe Peak. Firefighters on the fire worked throughout the day yesterday to halt fire spread. Crews remained on the fire overnight and monitored for fire activity. Firefighters are expected to remain on the fire throughout the day.

SNAG FIRE EVACUATION INFORMATION
The Valley County Sheriff’s Office issued a “ready” evacuation order for Warm Lake residents and the North Shore Lodge at Warm Lake on August 7. The map can be found on Inciweb: https://tinyurl.com/42auxnk8.  A second “ready” evacuation order was issued on August 8 for the Horsethief area, including the YMCA Camp, and areas of Scott Valley. This map can also be found on Inciweb, with the relevant areas outlined in purple:  https://tinyurl.com/4vfj657x
Review the READY, SET, GO evacuation procedure for Valley County: https://www.co.valley.id.us/ReadySetGo
For timely information on evacuations, check out your county’s emergency alert system. 
•    Valley County: https://www.co.valley.id.us/CompleteEmergencyNotificationandAlerting
•    Adams County:  https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/PublicUser.aspx?regionid=1077

ROAD CLOSURES
Warm Lake Highway Closure: The Valley County Sheriff’s Office has closed Warm Lake Highway due to the Snag Fire. The Warm Lake Highway is closed at the Horsethief Road intersection east toward Warm Lake and from the Johnson Creek Road intersection west toward Warm Lake. Scott Valley residents will be allowed access. For updates on county closures visit: https://www.co.valley.id.us/departments/SheriffsOffice.

FOREST CLOSURES
Hunting Closures: Prior to entering the backcountry, Idaho Fish and Game advises hunters to check with their local Forest Service ranger district offices or county sheriffs’ offices for fire closures in their hunt areas. For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/4td8hwzc

August 12, 2024 update: The Boise National Forest has modified or expanded their wildfire closures to address public and firefighter safety and respond to increased wildfire growth. This new closure area begins at the south end of the Dollar/Oro (Snag) fire closure area and continues south to Crouch and the Banks-Lowman Hwy, and east to the 579, 563 and 582 roads.

Wolf Creek Fire Closures: On the Payette National Forest, a closure including popular National Forest System roads around the Wolf Creek fire such as: sections of NFS #1763 (West Mountain Jeep Trail), #835, #206, #326. On the Boise National Forest, Forest Road #435 (Anderson Lake Road) was closed on August 1.  

Boulder Fire Closures: The Boise National Forest has issued a closure order #0402-04-98 for National Forest System (NFS) roads, trails and lands encompassing the Boulder Fire. The closure was enacted to protect public safety and support fire suppression activities. The closure includes Blue Lake and Snowbank Mountain Road (#446) along with all #404 and #421 system roads.

For maps and more detailed descriptions of the closures on the Payette National Forest, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/payette/alerts-notices

For maps and more detailed descriptions of the closures on the Boise National Forest, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/boise/alerts-notices

Fire Restrictions: Stage 1 Fire Restrictions have been issued for the Payette Fire Restrictions Area on the Payette National Forest and the West Central Mountains Fire Restrictions Area on the Boise National Forest.  For more information on the restrictions and a very helpful interactive map, visit https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/fire-restrictions-finder/

Important Links
•    Payette National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/payette
•    Payette National Forest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PayetteNationalForest
•    Boise National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/boise
•    Boise National Forest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoiseNationalForest
•    Idaho Department of Lands: https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/