McCall Idaho Headline News

In light of the recent blazes in bordering states, the chief of the Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association has little doubt McCall will experience an intense fire season this year.

"We're a month ahead in terms of normal seasonal drying," SITPA Fire Warden Mark Woods said. "Moisture is only 67 percent of normal. This year is unusual. We had nine fires in May. The usual is two to four."

To prepare for the expected heavy fire season, SITPA has staged equipment at both offices in McCall and Cascade.

A total of 12seasonal firefighters have been through fire season and divided between Cascade and McCall.

Three lookouts have been positioned on Brundage, No Business mountain and Tripod mountains.Together, they function as SITPA’s primary detection system in addition to the public.

In addition to patrolling local areas for fire, SITPA distributes and controls burn permits. SITPA has suspended all burn permits this week in preparation for the increased volume of visitors in the area. Normally, burn permits can be obtained from the McCall SITPA office free of charge.

"Burn permits are important because when one of our lookouts see smoke, the first thing they do is look at the permit list," Firefighter Alan Wright said. "They save a lot of time and money."

SITPA predates the Forest Service and was originally created by timber companies and private land owners to protect their property.

Today, SITPA is a state-agency that protects over 400,000 acres in the Long Valley area. SITPA only protects wild land but often works with local federal agencies.

"We call it cooperative forest management," Woods said. "We work to the same standards, perform the same jobs and use the same tools," he said. "The only difference is the color of our trucks. Theirs are green, ours are red."