BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
You may know by now that the Redfish Lake area is ‘closed,’ or that there was a fire near Stanley, Idaho, but it’s much more than that. The Bench Lake Fire continues to blaze at the time of this writing but the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team 4 is at it with boots on the ground daily.
Origins & Precautions
The ignition of the Bench Lake Fire is known to have begun on July 11, 2024. As the fire grew, a helicopter crashed in the Sawtooths while attempting to respond. According to the Custer County Sheriff’s Facebook page, the pilot was able to call 911 and hike out to a waiting ambulance. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The fire was considered small at that point, just over 40 acres. It has since increased its acreage growth daily and at the time of this writing covers over 1800 acres.
While, thankfully, there have been no human deaths or injuries, the effect on wildlife can pose an issue. They usually have enough time to flee; however, some methods of dealing with the fire can put certain animals at risk.
Lisa Wilkolak, information officer with the Great Basin Complex Incident Management Team 4, explains, “Most wildlife can move to a different area but one of the things that fire management and the Sawtooth National Forest are working very closely together on is that there are eight listed endangered species within the area. Fire managers are very aware of that and that there are endangered fish in Redfish Lake itself, so those are special considerations we look at when we make a decision for the fire.”
Personnel
The Incident Management Team is out, boots on the ground, every day, to deal with the blaze. They are currently operating with around 324 total personnel. “Every day new resources come in to help.” Wilkolak describes the structure of the team. “Nationally, we’re called complex incident management teams. It’s all regionally based and follows the Incident Command structure. We’re the Great Basin team. We operate with an incident commander, deputy incident commander, we have operations personnel and, like myself, information personnel. There’s finance, caterers, and the structure is based on incident command. It’s like setting up a small city.”
“Every day our number adjusts a little bit because we have been ordering additional resources to help with the fire. When we first got here, our numbers were relatively low. It starts locally as a response, utilizing local staff, but once the incidence management team comes in, we’re able to order additional resources. Every day new resources come in to help and today we are currently operating at 324 total personnel. That includes engine crews, firefighters working on the ground, helicopters and aviation assets.”
While the origin of the fire is unknown and under investigation, the continuing devastation can be traced to a couple of things—beetles and an old fire. “Where the fire started was in an area with a lot of standing and downed trees impacted by the beetle that came through. Some vegetation and trees impacted the safety of the crew as well. Those types of trees pose more of a hazard to our firefighters.” Wilkolak speaks of the dead standing trees destroyed by the mountain pine and bark beetles.
It has been stated by the Forest Service that back burns have been effective thus far. But what causes this massive daily growth in fires. “The area where the fire started had previously burned about 70 years ago and as it moved through that area it sort of worked through that beetle-killed fuel load and is currently burning through an area that has more vegetation for the fire to consume and is more of your big lush forest you think of in this area. So the fuel types can change, the terrain can impact it. Like a lot of the mountainous areas, the rock outcroppings assist firefighters as they create a natural break in the fire and so there’s all sorts of things they take into account for suppression efforts.”
Everyone working on this is very concerned and aware of the impact to the region’s tourism and economy, especially at Redfish Lake Lodge and campgrounds. Wilkolak is there to answer questions. “If you have a trip planned or coming up, you know, this is an incredibly important place for people and we want to make sure that we’re taking into consideration people’s upcoming trips as well as the Redfish Lake Lodge recreation complex. We are working to get that open as soon as possible.”
Highways 21 and 75 are still open, although caution should be exercised when driving through the area as those are the throughways to address the area.
Humans cause about 85 percent of all wildfires yearly in the United States according to https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-wildfires. And while that is not confirmed or even suggested, it is one thing we can control in potential situations such as these. Remember to camp safe and thoroughly understand fire safety in the forest.
If you’d like to make a difference in this situation, there is a GoFundMe account set up to help those affected by the fire and can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-redfish-lake-lodge-staff-and-family