Fire
Industry News
Just after midnight on August 13, 2025, every ski resort’s worst nightmare started for Tamarack Resort, Idaho. Lightning strikes started multiple wildfires in heavy timber stands just a mile away from the edge of the ski area. The fire grew quickly in heavy fuels dried by a long summer and average snowpack the preceding winter, and 24 hours later, the fire spanned close to 2,000 acres. More than 200 firefighters, including three elite hotshot crews, and 15 aircraft, ranging from a superheavy air tanker to several different helicopters, fought the initial progress of the fire, but the fire continued to advance towards homes, and embers rained down on the Bliss ski run, starting spot fires and threatening the rest of the ski area.
Through the hard work of several hundred firefighters over the course of the next month, containment lines encircled the fire and stopped forward progress. Tamarack had only 50-60 acres burn at the southern edge (far skier’s right) of the resort. For a fire that started in the middle of the night so close to the ski resort, the rapid protection of homes, ski terrain, and other structures was truly incredible.
Now, Tamarack Resort is making the best of the burned area, adding some new, wide-open groomers near Upper Bliss. Crews have worked to remove downed trees, clear debris, and remove or cut stumps down to size. Idaho News 6 reported that some of the trees have been sent to a local sawmill to salvage any useable timber, and that the resort estimates more than 200 loads will be transported off the mountain before the project is done.
Though ski areas typically prefer to plan new terrain and new ski runs on their own timeframe, Tamarack Resort is making the most of what could have been a disaster.Â
