VIDEO/PHOTOS: Mike De Fries of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team 1 escorted Idaho News 6 past the road closure on Highway 21 west of Stanley to get a look at the challenges firefighters have been dealing with on the Wapiti Fire.
This incident team took over on Saturday and it has been some hard days for the firefighters and people of Stanley as the Wapiti Fire has threatened homes and forced evacuations. "This fire is very aggressive we have got to prioritize those things that people value most," said De Fries. "First and foremost it is public and firefighter safety, but then it also people’s homes, their property, key infrastructure and key locations that are very important to the community." Our first stop was on Iron Creek Road where Mike showed us where crews backburned the area to save homes in the subdivision.