Highway 21 Closed - Bench Fire
Incident: Halstead Wildfire
Released: 8/9/2012
The Bench fire is burning near Banner Summit close to Bench Creek Campground on the Salmon Challis National Forest on both sides of Highway 21. Highway 21 is closed until 7am Saturday August 11, 2012. Firefighters from the Halstead Fire near Stanley are supress this fire. The fire is approximately 15 acres on the West side of Highway 21 and 271 acres on the East side of Highway 21 for a total of roughly 291 acres. The legal description is Section 2; Township 11 North; Range 10 East. The Highway is closed from Boundary Creek Road/ FS-579 Road to the Middle Fork to Grandjean. The road to the Middle Fork River is OPEN. The West side of the fire has a containment line completely around it. The East side of the fire received heavy air support Thursday and firefighters are agressively suppressing it again today. The Bench fire is burning in dense vegetation and is burning in fairly flat terrain. Currently, there are 3 crews, 5 engines and one water tender working on the fire. About 15 campers were evacuated from the Bull Lake campsites in the area.
