Firefighters have made substantial gains against the Trinity Ridge Fire, burning northeast of Boise. After a two-week evacuation, residents of the small town of Featherville were allowed to return this weekend.
Retiree Myrna Holmes says the first thing she did when she walked into her house was take a deep breath to see how smoky the air was. It wasn’t bad, she says. Now she and her husband, Gary, are trying to get back to their routines, after weeks of anxiety. "Not knowing what was going to happen was the worst part," she says. "I think a lot of people left the whole valley. They just left. But that’s too much. That’s just too hard."
Holmes and her husband evacuated to Pine, just ten miles away. They wanted to keep a close eye on the fire’s progress. Holmes says she’s relieved, and grateful for the many people who helped to protect her town. "It’s all going to be good," she says. "You couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of young people than what was up here."
The Trinity Ridge Fire is roughly 70 percent contained, but crews continue to fight for the upper hand on a number of others burning in the state. Local commanders issued an evacuation request for the tiny, unincorporated town of Dixie northeast of Riggins late Monday afternoon.