NAMPA, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Lands, Office of Emergency Management, and Idaho Fire Chiefs Association got together to discuss improving the deployment of Idaho resources to Idaho wildfires.
- 2024 saw almost a million acres burn --- Idaho's fifth-highest total in the last 25 years.
- 2025's wildfire season is projected to be in southern Idaho.
- This year fires went deep into the season, seeing new fires near Boise begin in October.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
With fire season nearly behind us, agencies across the state are evaulating what the last few months entailed and how they can work even better together next season.
"What I believe the best thing that happened in regards to that response in Idaho in 2024 was the collaboration and communication that has occurred with IDL," says President of the Idaho Fire Chiefs Association Kirk Carpenter.
Communication is key when state and local agencies are working toward a common goal; stopping Idaho wildfires from spreading.
Earlier this month leaders from the Department of Lands, Office of Emergency Management, and Idaho Fire Chiefs Association got together to compare notes on what turned out to be an active fire year.
"This was the first time that I'm aware of," Carpenter recalls, "that you had the three main agencies that do wildland response or fire response in the state of Idaho in one room collaboratively working towards a positive, more effective process. And having the willingness to change and open up each other's curtains to say, 'Hey, this is how we're operating now. How can we be better?'"
2024 saw almost a million acres burn --- Idaho's fifth-highest total in the last 25 years. Idaho wildfires sparked in June with federal assistance by July.
"The IDL rep sitting in that position would contact [the] Idaho Office of Emergency Management and Idaho Fire Chiefs and say,' This is the resource needed in or out of state. What do we have?'", Carpenter explains of the process, "Idaho Fire Chiefs begin their process of their communication tree and identifying who's the closest and available units and how many available units do we have for those resource orders."
August
With active weather on the radar and local resources already deployed to other states for assistance they had to act fast and work together.
"We collaboratively made the decision to 'Let's halt all request resource orders from out of state and let the next three to four days pass by to ensure that the predicted weather patterns didn't bring what IDL thought it was gonna bring to the state of Idaho.' And unfortunately it did," Carpenter recalls.
Several lightning-caused fires quickly surrounded Cascade causing ready, set, and go evacuation levels. What became known as the West Mountain Complex fires scorched over 120,000 acres.
September
"We figured that in September we'd be able to go back to just kind of normal operations. But not this year," Carpenter chuckled.
The lightning-caused Wapiti Fire in idaho's central mountains started near the end of July. and grew to nearly 130,000 acres in September -- becoming the top priority in the country seeing resources deployed from other states.
October
While we all expected a slow down with cooler temps in October, Boise saw the 10,000 acre Valley Fire burn right up to developments in the Boise foothills, the classic red retardant still visible just yards from the homes crews were busy protecting.
