Fire broke out near Idlers Rest and Twin Roads Monday, Aug. 30 with an unidentified cause. Those in the nearby area are under evacuation orders.
The fire was 0% contained as of 10 p.m. Monday night at 150 acres, threatening 20-40 buildings. Two structures have already been lost.
Michael McManus, the incident commander, spoke about the current conditions and situation of the fire.
“We do have some structures that have been lost, we don’t have a good count on those right now,” McManus said. “The cause is undetermined; we’ve got investigators in place. When we figure that out, we will let the public know.”
There are currently 100-120 people helping to fight the fire at Idlers Rest. Teams from the Pullman and Idaho Department of Lands are both pitching in.
“We’ve got a lot of support from local rural departments, we have people from Washington, and even utility companies,” McManus said.
There have been evacuations in place and road closures to ensure the safety of the public. McManus stated that Idler’s Rest, West Twin and portions of Moscow Mountain Road have been evacuated.
Due to the weather, McManus stated that they expected rough conditions going into the night with the wind a factor in the evening.
“With the drought conditions we have been in this year, just the way the fuels are, there are concerns,” McManus said. “Fire activity is not extreme, but pretty close.”
IDL will continue to provide updates on their Facebook page.
The Argonaut will follow this story as updates are available.
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @DVR_Tweets