BOISE, Idaho — Editor's note: this story was updated the day following publication. It now reflects that Tamarack Resort plans to reopen.
In an announcement on Sept. 12, Tamarack Resort President Scott Turlington said that the resort will resume operations on Friday, Sept. 13.
"With heavy rain over the past day and the forecast showing more today, we look forward to resuming operations and welcoming guests back to Tamarack tomorrow. Forest officials noted that the moisture reduced fire behavior with limited to no growth expected today. Tamarack will continue to work with local authorities and monitor fire activity south of the resort closely. If there are any future changes to our operations, we will update our social channels and website in real time," Turlington said.
Shoulder season at Tamarack Resort is quieter than usual.
“We’ve never closed because of a wildfire before,” President Scott Turlington said.
Thankfully, he said the closure will be short-lived because of Wednesday’s storms. They sent guests home out of an “abundance of caution” Tuesday after Valley County upped the area’s evacuation notices from “Be Ready” to “Be Set.”
“Now that we’ve had a significant amount of rainfall come through and more in the forecast, we feel comfortable even in that set stage that we can reopen the resort and welcome all the guests back Friday,” Turlington said.
The Lava Fire has burned more than 86,000 acres west of Cascade. It is larger now since combining with the Boulder Fire earlier this week. Starting Thursday, the two fires will be called the Lava Fire.
“The [fire] has been really erratic; all over the place,” Turlington said. “Just really grateful that we got some rain.”
Fire Information Officer Kathryn Abrahamson said they got some lightning strikes and thunder in addition to rain. The lightning did not cause any new starts as of Wednesday night.
However, she said anything is possible.
“These conditions are dry underneath,” Abrahamson said. “So, the wet top grass might dry out and those areas that could have been hit might start to smolder. We’ll address that if and when we see it.”
While it is hard to tell how much the storms impacted the fire, she said it certainly helped crews’ morale.
“It is really just kind of putting a little bit of water on a hot pan,” Abrahamson said. “Our crews do this because they love it … they’re happy to be out here anyhow, but it’s always helpful to see a little help from mother nature.”
Turlington said he hopes the storms continue into the week to give firefighters and support staff a chance to get in front of the fire and slow it down.
Tamarack is ready to get back into the swing of things, he said.
“It’ll be great to have [the resort] vibrant again,” Turlington said. “We are definitely looking forward to having guests back up.”
The Valley County Sheriff told KTVB he is meeting with fire managers on Thursday. He hopes to start lowering evacuation notices soon and getting people back into their homes.
He said roughly 600 people are only “Go Now” notices. Hundreds others are on levels 1 and 2.