The Butler Fire started around the 1st or 2nd of July and has been growing slowly/steadily, roughly doubling in size each day since then. It is burning in an area which last burned in 2013, and has the 2023 Pearch Fire burn scar to the west, and 2024 Boise Fire to the southwest, and 2020 Red Salmon Complex to the SE.
The main cluster of houses nearest the fire, at Butler Flat has had a lot of prescribed fire around it in the past 15 years. One of the residents there, Will Harling, let me know they are planning to do a prescribed burn around the neighborhood in next few days, in coordination with the local type 3 IMT. The Karuk Tribe and locals have been burning into last week on private properties around Orleans.
We’ll have Will on The Lookout tonight to talk about what they have going on, and to get a local perspective on the fire and potential strategies/outcomes.
We had Will Harling on The Lookout last night to talk about this fire and the culture around wildfire in the rural Salmon River and Klamath River communities.
Will and friends are burning about 6 acres of meadow at his place today as the fire moves down toward them.
