CROUCH, Idaho — The Paddock Fire has also impacted Garden Valley and Crouch as this mountain community has the worst air quality in Idaho because of all the smoke, as of Friday morning it was in the unhealthy category.
However, residents also have to worry about the Bulldog Fire that is burning about eight miles north of Crouch and there are a lot of homes between Crouch and the Boise National Forest Service line where officials have closed the Middle Fork Road.
"It’s the worst, that is why we decided to get out of there and go to Stanley to see if the air is a little bit nicer."
In regards to air quality as we caught up with him near Grandjean as they were heading to Stanley.
Gary Phillips owns property about two miles south of the Bulldog Fire, his property has a level one evacuation notice while properties a mile south of the Forest Service boundary have a level two evacuation notice.
"It’s more north, northeast of my house so I’m not really worried about it. I have a big five acre meadow in front of my house with a water cannon out there watering everything right now and I have the perimeter pretty well cleaned. If it was south I wouldn't have left for Stanley."
A new incident management team arrives Friday evening to take over the Bulldog Fire and other fires in the Boise National Forest. They will be based out of Garden Valley.
The Bulldog Fire has burned more than a thousand acres, but firefighters were able to take advantage of favorable conditions on Thursday to dig direct control lines to protect homes, Phillips also told us him and his neighbors have also taken measures to protect their property.
"I have great neighbors so I know they are working on it a couple of my neighbors are ex firefighters. I have a trash pump set up with a fire hose so we can pull water right out of the irrigation ditch if we need to, but like I said I’m not worried because the fire is north of the house."
People in the area can find updates on the Boise County Sheriff's page about evacuations and they can find information on the fire at the Boise National Forest Facebook page.
