Fire Information

When fire starts on the Sawtooth National Forest, the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) or Incident Public Information Officer will notify the public and news media outlets as soon as information is available. Fire information press releases will be distributed through the Sawtooth National Forest Facebook and Twitter accounts and via email.

2024 Fire Season Reports and History

Fire Notifications

The threshold for notifications include:

• New fire in timber of approximately 1 acre.
• Range/sage/grass of approximately 10 acres.
• Any fire starts that threatens or may become a threat to structures or personal residents.

The PAO will continue to work with the Duty officer, the Forest Fire Management Officer (FMO), or the District Ranger to initiate public information and outreach.

• The PAO follows up as necessary and coordinates public information.
• Public information includes coordinating communication with local law enforcement, radio, television, and all the Forest’s social media. They also plan, organize, and facilitate any necessary community meetings.
• Persons impacted by the fire and firefighter safety are always the priority.
• Priority information will be for road or area closures, evacuations, and evacuation sites for people and their animals and pets.

Additionally, information will be posted to Idahaofireinfo.com. As the fire incident evolves, it may be listed on InciWeb, as determined by the Fire Management Officer.

InciWeb is a great tool for researching large current incidents. InciWeb is a single source of incident related information and managed by the Incident Management Team or local PAOs.

To Report a Wildfire, call 1-800-974-2373 or dial # FIRE on a cell phone.

 

• Sawtooth Fire School

  

  Want to become a wildland firefighter? Get the certifications you need to start your seasonal or fulltime job now! The Sawtooth National Forest is holding a course to teach and recruit new firefighters. This training will provide students with skills and certificates to be qualified as basic firefighters and will give them the tools needed to start their career or seasonal job as a wildland firefighter for the Sawtooth National Forest.

  Learn More

Fire Prevention

The Sawtooth National Forest has approximately 45 fires each year. Typically, 50% are human caused and 50% lightning caused.

The human caused fires are from various preventable causes such as campfires that have not been properly extinguished, sparks thrown by vehicles or equipment along roadways, smoking, debris burning, and others.

The number of human-caused wildfires on the Sawtooth National Forest has been steadily increasing in recent years, and we would appreciate your help to change that trend. Here are steps you can take during your visit to help us protect the forest and prevent unwanted wildfires.

Maintain and Extinguish Your Campfire: With a warm campfire, comes a huge responsibility for all our visitors. It is your job to properly maintain and extinguish your campfire. Tips:

• What you must have is a shovel, a bucket and water on hand. Assure you are not under trees or in areas with flammable vegetation nearby.
• Keep your fire to a manageable size.
• Make sure children and pets are supervised when near the fire.
• Never leave your campfire unattended.
• Never cut live trees or branches from live trees.

Extinguishing Your Campfire: Tips:

• Allow the wood to burn completely to ash, if possible.
• Pour lots of water on the fire, drown ALL embers, not just the red ones.  Pour until hissing sound stops.
• Stir the campfire ashes and embers with a shovel.
• Stir and make sure everything is wet and cold to the touch.
• If you do not have water, use dirt. Continue adding and stirring until all material is cool. Do NOT bury the fire as the fire will continue to smolder and could catch roots on fire that will eventually get to the surface and start a wildfire.
• REMEMBER: If it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to leave!

Don't burn dangerous things!

Never burn aerosol cans or pressurized containers. They may explode.

Never put glass in the fire pit. Glass does not melt away. It only heats up and shatters. Broken slivers of glass are dangerous.

Aluminum cans do not burn. In fact, the aluminum only breaks down into smaller pieces. Inhaling aluminum dust can be harmful to your lungs.

Practice Vehicle Safety: Motorists are responsible for many of the wildfires sparked along roadways. Follow these safety rules:

• Secure chains. Practice safe towing. Dragging chains throw sparks.
• Check and maintain proper tire pressure.
• Carry a fire extinguisher in your vehicle and learn how to use it.
• Don't park or drive your vehicle onto dry grass or brush.
• Properly maintain brakes. Brakes worn too thin may cause metal to metal contact, which can cause a spark.

Follow One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire is a grass-roots, community-based effort to prevent unwanted wildfires everywhere.

Prepare your personal home and property!  Firewise

Links to Fire and Aviation Management Information

Regional Information

Eastern Great Basin Coordination Center - large fire summaries and other information available here.

National Information

Forest Service National Fire and Aviation Management

For information about fires across the nation, visit The National Incident Information Center

National Situation Report

InciWeb -  is an incident information center for national events such as fires, floods and other events that the Forest Service responds to.