BOISE, Idaho — In 2022, the Moose Fire burned for four and a half months causing mass devastation while scorching a total of 130,235 acres in Idaho's Salmon-Challis National Forest and beyond.
The fire started on July 17 when someone left a campfire unattended. It sparked what became the Moose Fire which quickly spread out of control.
Life on the Range showcases the impact of the Moose Fire in a new documentary as the blaze took the lives of five firefighters, cost $100 million in fire suppression, and had a profound impact on locals living around Salmon, Idaho.
Firefighters battled the blaze to protect private property, the town of Salmon, and the city's watershed.
"Mother Nature was angry the first few days, it kicked our butt," said Eric Platz, who works in Salmon-Challis National Forest. "It didn’t matter what we did or what we threw at it, we still couldn’t catch this and we gave it everything we had."
Their efforts came at a cost, as five firefighters were killed. There were 163 instances where firefighters deployed emergency shelters to shield them from the blaze and on the fourth day a helicopter crashed into the Salmon River killing both pilots.
CORRECTION: The 163 times firefighters took cover under their emergency shelters was over the last 10-15 years in the Salmon-Challis National Forest combined, not just the Moose Fire.
"We had to pick a place to take a stand and Diamond Creek is where we took our stand," said Chuck Mark, the supervisor of the Salmon-Challis National Forest. "By doing that it bought us time. That bought us weeks of time."
Ranchers Jay and Chyenne Smith's cattle were grazing above Diamond Creek and for months they had to sit on the sidelines and hope their cattle and their cabin would survive the wildfire.
"It’s horrible watching your life go up in smoke," said Chyenne Smith, who had tears in her eyes. "It was frightening, it was stressful and you just feel helpless."
The Smiths gathered their cattle when they could and finally in October were able to navigate the scarred landscape to round up their herd. Somehow every cow was accounted for and their family cabin survived.
Snow snuffed out the fire in late October, but at one point the Moose Fire was the largest wildfire in the country. And it all started because someone didn't put out their campfire. That person has never been caught by fire investigators.
"It’s so needless, it is just sick. You have a careless camper leaving a campfire unattended and they drove away," said Steve Stuebner, the writer and producer of the documentary. "We have got to do better, it just isn’t that big of a deal to put out a fire."
80 percent of wildfires are caused by humans and with fire season right around the corner, we all need to do our part to prevent disasters like the Moose Fire from happening again.
