Update 10:59 a.m.: Fire managers say the cost of fighting the Beaver Creek Fire is now at $11,587,000. The total reflects costs through 5:00 p.m. Monday. The number is nearly $700,000 higher than the figure first announced at a briefing in fire camp Tuesday morning.
The Associated Press reported the correct figure Tuesday morning. The AP story also included news of a change in the national wildfire preparedness level:
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise upped the wildfire preparedness level Tuesday to the highest level for the first time in five years and listed two central Idaho wildfires as the country's top priorities. -Associated Press
Original story: The cost of fighting the Beaver Creek Fire in Idaho's Wood River Valley is now at $10.9 million. That was among the updates fire managers offered at their briefing Tuesday morning.
Expenses have shot up in recent days as hundreds of firefighters and other resources were sent to protect homes near Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley. The effort has included numerous aerial resources, including retardant drops from both of the country's giant DC-10 air tankers. Aerial resources are considered the most expensive tool in fighting wildfires.
More than 1,830 people are now at work on the fire, and more are expected to be added. The force now includes firefighters who successfully contained the McCan Fire near Fairfield.
The next community meeting on the Beaver Creek Fire is planned for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Sun Valley Inn.
The latest map shows 106,323 acres have burned. The fire is 9 percent contained.