Friday, December 12, 2025
39.0°F

Tubbs Hill fire appears to be human-caused

DAVID COLE/[email protected] | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 5 months AGO
by DAVID COLE/[email protected]
| June 24, 2015 9:00 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - The Tubbs Hill fire on Saturday appears to have been human-caused, a fire official said Tuesday.

"The police department and fire department are conducting a joint investigation to see who may be responsible for the fire," Coeur d'Alene Fire Department Deputy Chief Glenn Lauper said. "We have evidence that indicates that it was a human-caused fire."

Fire officials estimated on Saturday the fire burned roughly 5 acres. Lauper said that was revised to 1 acre after investigators used GPS to measure the burn area.

Some trees were lost in the fire, he said.

Fire officials will likely spend as long as the next 10 days searching for hotspots on the hill, Lauper said.

He asked that anyone who sees smoke on the hill call 911 and provide a location.

The fire department won't be granting any open burning permits because of the current ground and weather conditions. Backyard campfires will be allowed.

While the fire danger index is high throughout the region, it's extreme on Tubbs Hill and other open spaces in Coeur d'Alene, Lauper said.

The fire on Saturday on Tubbs forced hundreds of people to leave the popular park. A helicopter with a scoop made repeated drops of water on the fire on the west side of the hill to knock it down.

ARTICLES BY DAVID COLE/[email protected]

May 14, 2015 9 p.m.

Another busy year for EPA cleanup projects

Feds spending $35M on Silver Valley work this summer

COEUR d'ALENE - Federal officials plan to spend $35 million this spring and summer in the Silver Valley doing cleanup of historic mining waste and pollution.

March 13, 2015 9 p.m.

Wolf-shooter waiting for day in court

Trial of wolf shooter likely to be continued

COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai County trial of the man who shot and killed a wolf on Rathdrum Mountain might not go forward as scheduled next week.

April 14, 2015 9 p.m.

English chosen for Habitat post

Former county clerk starts as executive director June 1