I am safe .. but lightning fires continue to ravage the area in the Idaho panhandle (short update) [View all]

[Bo Zarts]

Incredible lightning last night with many, many new fire starts. I was already out of the lookout tower and in one of my usual off-days haunts in a historic little town on I-90 in the Idaho panhandle.

Rumor is that air tankers dropped retardant on or near my fire lookout this afternoon. A friend in Coeur D’Alene fire dispatch just messaged me that my lookout tower “is still standing.”

I seriously doubt that I’ll get anywhere close to my lookout for a few days, due to road closures and wind blowdowns from last night’s epic storms (Missoula, just over the Bitterroots had 100+ mph winds last night).

That’s it. More when I know it.