The Moose Fire was ignited on July 17, 2022, by sparks from an unattended campfire burning next to the Salmon River near Salmon, ID. A careless camper started what would become the nation’s and Idaho’s largest wildfire in summer 2022.
The wildfire started in Moose Creek Canyon, on the south side of the Salmon River. Fanned by high winds and hot temperatures, the fire raced into the crowns of trees, causing a giant plume of smoke.
Carmen Creek ranchers Jay and Chyenne Smith saw the smoke from their ranch, north of Salmon. Their cattle were grazing in the Diamond-Moose Grazing Allotment, high above where the fire started, in the Salmon-Challis National Forest.
“We see a plume of smoke, and get a phone call, ‘There’s a fire on your summer range,’” said Jay Smith. “From that point on, the summer was a whirlwind.”
Initially, forest roads were open. The Smiths drove up into the forest to check on their cattle. They staged a lot of the cattle in Moose Meadow, a large, open grassy area next to their family cabin, hoping to keep them out of harm’s way.
“Very first guy I talked to was in structure protection,” Smith says. “He was up here doing sprinklers and pumps and thinning trees to protect our private property. We had a great meeting with him. I told him my objective was honesty and transparency, just tell me what to expect.
“He told us there was no chance of getting ahead of it, and that we were going to be dealing with it all summer long, but he gave us 95-98% odds that our private property would be OK. And he was right on every point.”
Salmon-Challis National Forest officials called for fire crews, engines and air attack resources in hopes of stopping the fire with initial attack. First priority was to protect private property, and threats to people’s lives and safety. Forest officials also notified local ranchers about the fire and asked them to remove as many cattle as possible, immediately.
Within minutes, the fire had grown from a quarter-acre to 300 acres on the first afternoon. By day 2, 12,000 acres. Day 3, 16,500 acres, mainly in the Moose Creek drainage—the Smith’s summer range area.
The Smiths were told the fire would likely burn up the Diamond-Moose grazing allotment. For most of the summer, they had to wait on the sidelines, hoping their cattle didn’t get killed by the blaze.
“It was horrible, watching your life go up in smoke,” Chyenne Smith said. “It was frightening, it was stressful, you feel helpless.”
The Moose Creek Fire ended up growing to about 130,205 acres in size. It burned for 4.5 months, from mid-July until Oct. 31. At times, it was the nation’s largest wildfire, with 1,500 firefighters engaged. Fire suppression costs totaled $100 million.
Initial attack focused on protecting the small roadside town of North Fork, extinguishing the fire on the north side of the Salmon River Canyon, and protecting structures immediately threatened by the wildfire along U.S. 93.
“I knew it was going to be severe fire behavior and we couldn’t put any firefighters in (Moose Creek canyon), otherwise it would kill them,” said Eric Platz, fire management officer for the Salmon-Challis National Forest.
The Salmon-Challis National Forest has had a history of ferocious fire behavior. Dead and dying trees littered across the forest floor have been accumulating for more than a century. When wildfires combine with high winds and hot temperatures, it’s a lethal combination. Five firefighters have been killed fighting fires in the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Emergency shelters have been deployed 163 times as a last-ditch effort to save their lives from wildfires. On day 4 of the Moose Creek Fire, a helicopter crashed into the Salmon River, killing two pilots on board.
The fire kept spreading all summer. Every day, the Smiths rode up into the forest below the fire line to gather cattle. They also made quick plans to find safe harbor for their cattle in the valley below by renting extra pasture.
In early October, the Smiths received permission to go look for their cattle. They were overjoyed to see their family cabin had survived the blaze. Luckily, the Smiths were able to retrieve all of their cattle, too.
In the future, both the Smiths and the Forest Service would like to be more proactive about reducing dead and dying fuels in the forest.
“I understand prescribed burning, it should be one tool in the toolbox, not the only tool,” Chyenne Smith says. “I’d like to see logging come back, I’d like to see these trees not just stand there and die. There’s a lot that could be done. Grazing is one of those things, logging is one of those things, burning can be one of those things, we need to have conversations about how we can take better care of our natural resources, that’s for sure.”
By the way, no suspects have been charged in connection with leaving a campfire unattended and starting the Moose Creek Fire, forest officials said. There are no leads and the trail has gone cold, officials said. — Steve Stuebner, writer and producer of Life on the Range, sponsored by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission
