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As of Thursday afternoon, the Boise Fire burning south of Orleans has burned over 10,205 acres. The fire, which ignited on Aug. 9, remains zero percent contained.

In a virtual Q&A with fire officials this afternoon, Operations Section Chief Heather McRae said fire crews have made “really good progress” on the fire, establishing direct lines on the northern edge of the fire along Antenna Ridge. Incident Command’s “number one priority” is keeping the fire away from Orleans, she said.

Screenshot from Q&A.

“Crews have been focusing their efforts today in that area, getting that line good and mopped up along the top of Antenna Ridge Road,” McRae said, gesturing to the map with a plastic skeleton hand. “When the fire did go through there, some trees came down. So, we do have some fallers in there falling trees to make sure that the crews can continue to access that area safely.”

Growth has slowed on the eastern edge of the fire along Salmon River Road near Horn Creek Gap. However, there is “still some potential for that edge to grow,” McRae said.

“[Growth] is at a slow, slow pace right now,” she continued. “We have an old dozer line that was put in during the Red Salmon Complex, and that dozer line has been reopened. We have crews in there prepping that line tonight. They’re looking at utilizing a drone to go in there and do some aerial ignition. That will allow fire that is lit directly along that line to back down into that drainage, and that will become our new containment line.”

Adrienne Freeman, a public information officer for California Team 10, said the incident command team is “going to be extremely conservative” about establishing containment lines before they’ve been tested.

“Pretty much everybody on this team has been in this environment for decades, and we know how unforgiving it can be,” she said. “We are not going to put containment on the map until we know that our lines have been tested and we are confident that they are absolutely going to hold. … We’re just being extra careful and conservative about how we call it.”

Speaking to concerns about fire retardant contaminating the water supply for residents of Pearch Creek, Freeman said fire crews and community liaisons are “taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the water supply is safe.”

“We also understand that this community has seen a lot of retardant in places that maybe aren’t strategic … and I just want to assure you that we’re being extremely thoughtful about the use of retardant,” she said. “And it’s not just water systems, there are other cultural [areas] out there that we want to make sure we’re avoiding with retardant.”

There are 22 crews, 16 engines, five helicopters and two dozers assigned to the fire. There have been no reports of firefighter injuries.

Evacuation orders and warnings remain in place for residents surrounding the fire. Evacuation details can be found at the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Facebook or at this link.

Check out the 2024 Boise Fire Facebook page for more information. A video of this afternoon’s Q&A can be found here.

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The Boise Fire as of this afternoon. The squares are satellite-detected hotspots: Red squares were detected within the last six hours, orange within the last 12 and yellow within the last 24.