BOISE, Idaho — Residents heading out to the Boise National Forest on Nov. 18 to enjoy the above-average weather may notice areas with light smoke. Forest officials are still working on prescribed burns to help lessen future fires.
However, the view is much clearer in Centerville than last month's. Some residents in the areas said they were struggling with the thick smoke.
One person said they had difficulty breathing, their eyes were burning, and the smoke was getting into their house. Boise National Forest officials were doing a prescribed burn from Oct. 7 to Oct. 31.
"We have air quality sensors through the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, In this area, we have one in Idaho City and there's one in Garden Valley," said Ryan Jones the forest hazardous fuels planner for the Boise National Forest. "I don't believe we have one in Centerville. But those are the two that we have. And they monitor that closely."
He said the fire operations can change day by day and hour by hour. Crews have to apply for approval to burn 24 hours in advance.
"Our process is through the Idaho Montana Air Shed Group. It's the approved process through the Idaho Department Environmental Quality," he said. "So we apply essentially almost like a permit to them for smoke approval, and they look at not only the air shed we're in, but the adjacent air sheds and all the other fire activity that's going on, not just the prescribed fire, to see where we can actually get approval to burn or not..."
He continued, "If we're approved to burn, 300 acres, then we move on to the next phase to see if we can actually get the desired effects that we want when we do our test fire. But that's the approved process through DEQ."
According to them, they have to account for weekends and accommodate holidays as well, adding to their planning process.
In addition, crews light-test fire each morning to check fire behavior to make sure the observed conditions match their plans for the day.
Jones also explained, in order to do the prescribed burn safely, they need very specific weather conditions. The temperatures, humidity, and winds all have to be right. Those elements only link up a week or two each spring and fall.
But this year, they said they had a month extra to reduce the hazardous fuels. Fires happen in this area around Idaho City every five to 22 years.
"It is a very high-risk area for fire. So that's a very high priority for us...We do understand it's an inconvenience, temporarily," Jones said. "But you know, with the future in mind, what we're trying to do is reduce the future wildfire impacts, which produce a lot more smoke than the conditions that we have..."
Jones said they understand it's an inconvenience, but they don't do the exact same spot the following year.
Jones explained that since it's a very high fire frequency area, hazardous fuels can build up if there's no fire, whether it be a wildfire or a prescribed fire. These October prescribed burns were planned out from 2011 - 2015. So, it wasn't a decision that was just made this year.
Jones also mentioned fire crews burned 1,800 acres in this particular prescribed burn in October. In comparison, the Four Corners Fire in Cascade, burned about 14,000 acres last year. Both cities have about 1,000 people that live there.
So unfortunately, it is unpleasant, to say the least, either way. Boise National Forest officials have to balance many risks and current conditions.
The good news for people in Centerville is those prescribed burns should not be so close next season.
"We'll be moving on to other units. And as soon as we get more areas cleared, we try to space them out and move them into other parts of the air shed. So you don't have a place like Centerville getting hammered with a lot of smoke," Jones said.
Jones added, "In order for us to reduce those future impacts, we have to kind of have some temporary impacts in the interim, but it's just trying to find that balance of spreading them out, you know, between a community right there that's really high risk and then moving them maybe to a little further away so we don't impact them consistently for a long duration."
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