Weather Service warns of fire danger
With brush drying out and storms in the forecast, the National Weather Service issued a “Red Flag Warning” for today to warn of lightning-caused fires.
The warning is for most of southeast and south central Washington including Whitman and Adams counties and most of Lincoln County. It also includes a small portion of southern Spokane County. The bulletin will be in effect until 1 p.m. today. The storm is expected to produce lightning and wind with little rain.
Most of Spokane County wasn’t included in the warning because brush is not as dry as in the other locations, said Paul Bos, a weather service meteorologist.
Gusts of 30 mph are possible in the warning area, the weather service said.
Wildfires spread across Idaho
After containing a wildfire that scorched more than 300 square miles in southwestern Idaho, crews were working up and down the state Thursday on four other fires, the largest of which was at 4,000 acres.
None immediately threatened residences, but the North Hill fire near Bonners Ferry forced the evacuation of 25 people late Wednesday as crews surrounded four luxury homes on a ridge while flames advanced up the slope through a stand of Ponderosa pines and Douglas fir.
“The crews that fought that fire did a fantastic job in stopping it prior to damaging any of those homes,” Boundary County Disaster Services Coordinator Bob Graham said Thursday. The fire was 50 percent contained Thursday afternoon after burning 108 acres of pine forest.
The Monroe Creek fire on the Payette National Forest was expected to be contained late Thursday after burning 4,000 acres of tall grass north of Weiser in southwestern Idaho.
The Falls Creek fire 25 miles east of Challis in central Idaho had burned at least 125 acres in an area that was inaccessible to ground crews. And the Star Lake fire north of Eden in southern Idaho had been contained Thursday after burning 350 acres.
Agency kills wolves over stock attacks
Boise
Six gray wolves were killed near Hailey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because they were preying on livestock, officials said Thursday.
The wolves, members of the Copper Basin pack, were destroyed Wednesday, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Carter Niemeyer said.
“We are hopeful that this control action will deter any future livestock depredations in this area,” Niemeyer said in a statement. “If the depredations continue, the rest of the pack will be removed.”
The wolves killed two calves this week as the animals grazed in the Challis National Forest, officials said. The pack was already implicated in the killings of four cattle and the injuries of two calves, according to the Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2004 Annual Report.