Single Publication

Fire Location:

• Wapiti: 2 miles SE of Grandjean 
• Bulltrout: 35 miles NE of Lowman 

Size: 

• Wapiti: 205 acres  
• Bulltrout:292 acres 

Containment: 

• Wapiti: 0% 
• Bulltrout: 41% 

Personnel: 

• Wapiti: 39 
• Bulltrout:86 

Start Date:

• Wapiti: 7/24/2024 
• Bulltrout:7/25/2024 

Cause:

• lightning

Incident Commander: 

• Mike Johnston, Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team #7 

Summary: The Wapiti and Bulltrout fires resulted from a lightning storm on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. On July 31st an incident management team was delegated the West Mountain Complex which includes the Boulder, Wapiti and Bulltrout Fires on the Boise National Forest and the Wolf Creek Fire on the Payette National Forest. A full suppression strategy is being utilized on these lightning-caused fires. Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority for fire managers.  

Weather | Anticipated Fire Behavior: Red Flag warning issued today from 12pm to 9pm for Thunderstorms. Another pulse of moisture will enter the fire area midday today. This will keep temperatures in the 70s in the fire areas, relative humidity will stay in the mid 30% range. Winds will be variable from the southwest with gusts in the 10-15 mph range, winds associated with any thunderstorms will be gusty and erratic.  

Actions:  Resources are identified and prepared for initial attack. Aircraft will be ready to support firefighters on the ground on any new fires.   

Wapiti Fire: The Fire will continue to flank and back into the South Fork of the Payette River drainage. Isolated and group tree torching is expected as spotting and downhill roll out continue to drive fire spread in the heavy fuels and steep terrain. Firefighting crews remain engaged implementing appropriate tactics given the fuels and terrain. The predicted thunderstorms passing over the fire will produce gusty and erratic winds that will increase fire activity.  

Bulltrout Fire: The Bulltrout Fire continues to burn in steep terrain with areas of heavy dead and down fuel. Containment increased again on the fire yesterday. Today, mop up along containment lines and felling of hazard trees will continue around the fire. The predicted thunderstorms passing over the fire will produce gusty and erratic winds that will increase fire activity within the interior of the fire. 

Important Information: For the Wapiti Fire, the Boise and Sawtooth National Forests have issued a closure order for roads, trails and lands encompassing the Wapiti Fire. The closure was enacted to protect public safety and support fire suppression activities. The closure affects interior travel on several National Forest System roads such as NFS Grandjean Road #524 and the Warm Springs Air Strip. Additional information about these closures can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2u8v3pf7 

For the Bulltrout Fire, the Boise and Salmon‐Challis National Forests have issued a closure order for roads, trails and lands encompassing the Bulltrout Fire. The closure was enacted to protect public safety and support fire suppression activities. This closure includes National Forest System (NFS) Roads #579, #582 and several others. There are no disruptions in access to the Boundary Creek Boat Launch.  NFS Road #579 is open in its entirety from Highway 21 to NFS Road #568 to the Boundary Creek Boat Launch. Risk to responders and public safety remain the highest priority for the incident management team. Additional information about these closures can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/2u8v3pf7. The Boise National Forest is working on a reduction on the closure order area.  This information will be shared when the new order is finalized.   

The evacuation of the Grandjean area and the Sawtooth Lodge remains in place and the incident management team is in close coordination with the Boise County Sheriff’s Office. 

For timely information on evacuations, check out your county’s emergency alert system.  For Boise County, sign up for notifications from Alert Sense at: https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/?regionid=1163. 

Both fires are adjacent to Highway 21 which is a popular travel route in Central Idaho. With the influx of vehicles in the area from fire and support personnel, please use extreme caution when traveling along Highway 21 between Stanley and Lowman, to help ensure fire crews safety while working.  

The Boise National Forest, Idaho Department of Lands, and Bureau of Land Management are in Stage 1 fire restrictions on state, endowment, private and federal lands within the West Central Mountains Fire Restrictions Zone. For more information on the restrictions and a map visit: https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/fire-restrictions-finder/  

InciWeb: 

• https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-wapiti-fire  
• https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/idbof-bulltrout-fire  

Facebook: 

• https://www.facebook.com/BoiseNationalForest 

Boise National Forest 

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/boise 

Idaho Department of Lands  

• https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/