Evacuation readiness urged

CLARK FORK — A precautionary pre-evacuation notice was issued Tuesday due to continuing wildfire activity on the Clark Fork Complex fires.

“We don’t want to cause any panic and there’s no need to panic at this time, but it is time to be thinking about it,” Craig Glazier, deputy incident commander for the Clark Fork Complex, said of a possible evacuation.

The evacuation area is bounded on the east by the Montana state line and the west by the main fork of Johnson Creek. The evacuation area extends north to River Road (south of the Clark Fork River) and south to the Shoshone County.

The pre-evacuation notice equates to a Level 1 notice, which means residents in that area should be ready to evacuate and to pay close attention to emergency services alerts and updates.

Glazier urged residents with special needs or those with livestock to commence with relocation.

A Level 2 evacuation alert would be triggered if one of the complex’s fires, the  739-acre Whitetail Peak conflagration, jumps U.S. Forest Service Road No. 332 and establishes itself in the Dry and Twin creek drainages. If Level 2 alert is issued, residents should be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.

“We feel pretty good about that fire up on that ridge, but we don’t have it wrapped up by any means so we want folks to be prepared,” said Glazier.

A crew of Idaho Panhandle hotshots is working that edge of the fire.

“They’re working to keep the fire on the south side of the ridge line,” said Joe Sampson, an operations section chief on the Clark Fork Complex.

If an evacuation is ordered, the Clark Fork High School would likely be designated as a shelter, said Bob Howard, director of Bonner County Emergency Management.

“If you have large animals that you need to relocate somewhere, you can take them to the (county) fairgrounds. You’ll still be responsible for the feeding and maintenance,” said Howard.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said deputies would begin personally notifying the approximately 90 residences of the Level 1 alert today. Deputies would deliver further notifications if the alert level is raised.

“Public safety and your safety is number one. We want you to be informed,” Wheeler said.

The Clark Fork Complex is composed of the Whitetail Fire, in addition to the Scotchman Peak Fire (2,876 acres), the Marten Creek Fire (5 acres), the Government Fire (203 acres) the Sawtooth Fire (2,292 acres) and the Napoleon Fire (5,895 acres).