Idaho Has Spent Nearly $40 Million Fighting Wildfires. That’s Not the Real Cost.

$40 million.  That’s approximately how much Idaho has racked up fighting wildfires on public lands this summer.

It’s a staggering number, but that’s not the number that bothers me the most.

Cory- Townsquare Media Boise

178 Idaho Fires Were Caused by People

Through August 24, the Idaho Department of Lands had responded to 218 fires on state endowment lands.

178 were human-caused, which means only 40 weren’t caused by people.  That's more than 80%.

Some wildfires are unavoidable. Lightning strikes and storms rolling through, but 178 fires caused by people?  That’s frustrating.  Especially when you think about who we’re asking to go put them out.

Aaron Carlson

I Have Friends Who Are Idaho Wildland Firefighters

I have dear friends who are wildland firefighters and I’ve watched them do this year after year.

When fire season comes, they leave their families and friends.  They leave their homes.

Sometimes they’re gone for weeks at a time, traveling wherever they’re needed because somebody has to be willing to walk toward the thing the rest of us are trying to get away from.  They do it to protect our homes, our towns, our forests and our state.

What exactly is that worth?  Because I don’t think there’s a dollar amount you can put on it.

Aaron Carlson

This Year's Idaho Fire Season Was a Painful Reminder

We were reminded very early this fire season just how dangerous this job can be.

On June 27, five federal wildland firefighters were caught in a burnover while fighting the Knowles Fire near the Colorado-Utah border.

Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson died that day.  Nathan Matthews suffered severe burns and died from his injuries nearly a month later.

Four wildland firefighters.  Four people who went to work that day to protect people and places they may not have even known, and four families who will never get them back.

That’s a cost that will never show up in Idaho’s $40 million wildfire bill.

READ MORE:  Honoring Idaho's Wildland Firefighters: Heroes of Our Forests

Aaron Carlson

$40 Million Is Just the Number We Can Calculate

We can add up the cost of aircraft, equipment, supplies and fire crews.  We can calculate burned acreage and damaged property and eventually arrive at a number and put a dollar sign in front of it.

But we can’t calculate every missed birthday, anniversary or family dinner while a firefighter is gone.  We can’t put a price on the worry their families live with while they’re out there and we certainly can’t put a dollar amount on a firefighter who doesn’t come home.

Cory- Townsquare Media Boise

So yes, Idaho’s wildfire bill approaching $40 million, but knowing that 178 of 218 fires on state lands were human caused makes that number even harder to swallow.

But there’s another cost we should remember every time we hear about another fire starting somewhere in Idaho.

Someone has to go fight it and very often, that means someone else is waiting at home for them to come back.

That cost can never, ever be paid.