Regional fire crews busy chasing wildfires
A plane drops fire retardant on the South Meadow Fire Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025 in the Kootenai National Forest near the Idaho border. (Photo courtesy Three Rivers Fire Crew and Idaho Panhandle Helitack employees)
Aerial fire crews were making a big difference in slowing the spread of the South Meadow Fire this week on the Kootenai National Forest.
Temperatures in the 90s, low humidity and high winds were a bane of those battling the blaze.
According to KNF Public Affairs Officer Larona Rebo, air tankers came from Coeur d’Alene, Boise, Idaho; Billings and Missoula, Montana; Redmond, Oregon, and Cody, Wyoming.
In addition to the tankers, air attacks, lead planes and helicopters were also working on the fire, which was burning above 5,000 feet in steep terrain and thick timber.
Rebo also said a closure order will be issued for the area, for both public and firefighter safety, and folks are asked to avoid the area.
The fire, which was estimated at more than 60 acres Wednesday, was detected Tuesday morning.
Rebo said command of the fire will transition Thursday to a local Kootenai Type 3 Incident Management Team.
In addition to the multiple aircraft, there are two 20-person hand crews and heavy equipment, including a bulldozer, two excavators and two masticators.
No structures are currently threatened. A cause hadn’t been determined, but there have been hundreds of lightning strikes in the last two weeks across the region that have resulted in several fires which area fire crews have doused before they exceeded more than a few acres.
One of those lightning-caused fires is the Lightning Creek Fire in north Idaho, nine miles north of Clark Fork. As of Aug. 13, the fire was at just under 2,500 acres with 10% containment. It was being worked by 157 total personnel, five engines; one water tender, eight excavators; one feller buncher, two chippers a hand crew and a Hotshot team.