IN PRODUCTION

OUTDOOR IDAHO Explores Perennial Idaho Problem

"Wild Fire" Examines the Changing Behavior of Western Fires

Premiered Thursday, July 24, 2008.

For much of the 20th century, we Americans accepted the notion that wild fires were bad. We extinguished them as quickly as possible.

That’s one of the reasons we’re in the predicament we’re in, say fire officials.

Add to that record-breaking temperatures, drought, insect invasions, and an onslaught of homes being built in the forest, and you’ve got the makings of a bad fire season.

The OUTDOOR IDAHO crew shot key interviews during the 2007 fire season, one of the worst on record. The residents of Yellow Pine and of Ketchum/Sun Valley tell their stories; and we hear from professionals who have lived through some of the worst fires of the past thirty years.

"We have records on acres burned going back to 1960," says Tom Boatner, Chief of Fire Operations for the BLM. "If you measure the ten busiest years by acres burned, seven of them have happened since 1999."

As wild fires bore down on Ketchum/Sun Valley, District Ranger Kurt Nelson gave us his take on the future of wild fire. "We’re entering into a period where climate change on the large scale is affecting how we fight fires. We’re going to have to be much smarter about it."

Hear more from Boatner, Nelson and others on the frontlines at our "Wild Fire" website.