“Many times you go back (a year or two) after something like this and it’s like, ‘Wow, it’s not as bad as I thought.’ It’s definitely different. It’ll take out the shrubs and the grasses and the small trees underneath, but the (big) trees will still be there and they will drop their needles, but it won’t be devastating. A lot of people think every fire devastates everything, and it doesn’t always devastate everything.”
– Debby Broback, Forest Service information officer, on the Castle Rock fire in Idaho
The blaze charred 74 square miles, including portions of Sun Valley Ski Area’s Bald Mountain. No structures were lost and no serious injuries were reported from the lightning-caused fire, which started started Aug. 16 and was nearly 100 percent contained by Monday.
