Smoke Chokes Boise Again. Here’s Where It Comes From, How Long It Will Bother Us

Air quality in Boise and the Treasure Valley deteriorated rapidly Thursday, as smoke drifted overnight from the Wapiti and Nellie wildfires in central Idaho — the two largest fires burning in the Boise National Forest.

Jay Breidenbach of the National Weather Service in Boise said dry and windy conditions Wednesday caused more smoke to blow south and then west.

“The smoke from (the Wapiti and Nellie fires) drifted south out of the mountains down into the Snake River Plain, and then overnight the smoke changed more so that it drifted west,” Breidenbach told the Idaho Statesman. “That continued this morning as it came through Boise. A pretty thick band of smoke, and it’s continuing to drift west toward the western Idaho border.”

There’s not much good news to report either: Breidenbach expects smoke to continue to affect the Boise area for the next few days.

Michael Toole of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said the air quality above Boise was at 144 (orange) around 2 p.m. Thursday, which is unhealthy for certain groups. The DEQ issued an updated air quality warning of orange for Ada, Canyon and Elmore counties at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Air quality in most of the Treasure Valley has averaged moderate (yellow) over the past 24 hours, but as of 3 p.m. Thursday, live DEQ measurements online showed readings as high as 174 (red) at certain measuring points.

The lightning-sparked Wapiti Fire has burned nearly 90,000 acres in Custer County and was still not under control as of Thursday. The fire has grown tenfold in size in just over a week — it was 9,000 acres on Aug. 20. More than 800 firefighters are working to contain the blaze.

The Nellie Fire is part of the Middle Fork Complex and has spread over 130,000 acres with only 5% contained, so both fires will continue to produce smoke.

A community meeting on the fires will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Stanley Community Center with updates from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team. It will also be livestreamed on the Wapiti Fire Information Facebook page and shared on YouTube.