Gov. Butch Otter toured the Cape Horn Fire near Bayview today, surveying the damage done by the 1,155-acre blaze near the lakeside town of Bayview, and urged homeowners to keep brush and trees near homes trimmed. “Trim the threat,” he said, after flying over still-smouldering hillsides, where helicopters were dropping water, and touring the burned remains of a home on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille. Otter urged Idahoans to create “defensible space” around their homes to protect them from wildfires.

Incident Commander Bob Fry told Otter that the fire, now 40 percent contained and no longer threatening homes, will cause long-term hazards in the area, including  erosion and falling trees. “They’re going to live with those hazards all summer,” Fry said. You can read our full report here from S-R reporter Eli Francovich. Otter had been scheduled to attend the upscale Allen & Co. business and media gathering at Sun Valley all week this week, but detoured today to tour the fire scene instead.