Scarywood fog machines, natural fog cause ‘zero visibility,’ shut down Highway 95 Friday

Fog machines at Scarywood caused “zero visibility,” a local fire district said, and forced Highway 95 to close for a time Friday night as natural fog also blanketed the area and two vehicles crashed.

A Timberlake Fire Protection District representative said crews responded to the crash around 10:30 p.m. in front of the theme park. He said he was unsure what the cause of the crash was and that no one was taken to the hospital via ambulance.

Idaho State Police wrote on Twitter Friday night that the highway would be closed for about 45 minutes. The highway has since reopened. The northbound and southbound lanes closed in the area of Silverwood Theme Park, which is near Athol in North Idaho and hosts Scarywood around Halloween.

Scarywood Director Jordan Carter said the theme park turned the fog machines to their lowest setting around 9:30 p.m. after they realized its fog and the natural fog was thicker than normal. At 10 p.m., they turned the fog machines completely off because the fog was not leaving the area, he said.

He said high humidity, dropping temperatures and slowing wind speeds allowed the fog to stay in the area.

“Those weather conditions played a huge, critical role in the visibility out here,” Carter said.

A video on the fire district’s Facebook page shows how foggy the conditions were: facebook.com/Timberlake-Fire-Protection-District-407134099387828.