Idaho

Paddock Fire north of Emmett has covered a lot of ground

Published

1 year ago

August 8, 2024

Paddock Fire north of Emmett has covered a lot of ground

EMMETT, Idaho — The Paddock Fire burning in a rural area splits three Idaho counties. Gem, Payette, and Washington. It was very active Wednesday night, but fire crews worked fast and hit it hard with everything they had. By Thursday morning things were significantly safer for homeowners on the southern edge of the fire.

RELATED | Crews arrive to fight 153,237-acre Paddock Fire amid Level 3 evacuations

Paddock Fire is burning in three Idaho Counties: Washington County, Gem County, and Payette County.
Fire Crews worked through the night to control the flames as the fire continued to spread in the area.
A local beekeeper’s 72 hives survived the fire despite the spreading flames.

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

It doesn’t take long to see and smell the damage the Paddock fire north of Emmett has already done. Well over one hundred thousand acres, the fire has attracted firefighters from all over the West. Elko County Fire Chief Matt Peterson and his crew rolled in last night.

“So, we got on the line last night about 1:00 we did some securing of the lines, from feedlot to the red barn. We secure the line as we go, it’s not 100 percent secure, we’ll work through the day shift and if it doesn’t move we want to put containment lines on the map. These ranchers last night were so happy to have us here and being able to help them, they showed us they into the fire they helped our bulldozer get in there it was awesome.”

Bulldozers are essential for fighting fires whether it’s new or old line, they can stop a fire in its tracks. The handful of homeowners were fortunate to get the help they needed. A herd of cows found safety and yes even the birds and the bees made it.

“We got a call last night and there was a roadblock down there the bees are important but it’s not worth risking a life over it. We weren’t prepared for it normally we come in here and get them out, but it came in so fast we didn’t have a chance to get them out. The question is how do you move hundreds of thousands of bees out here, with trucks and fork lifts. I can get the out of here in hours so.”

All of Kory Hamilton’s 72 hives did not lose a drop of honey.

The fire still has hot spots, and there are plenty of fire crews on the roads, so if you have to be in the area, use caution.

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Idaho

Looking forward to another year of East Idaho Sports – East Idaho News

Published

9 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Looking forward to another year of East Idaho Sports – East Idaho News

Note: As a bonus to our readers who have followed us into Year 2, the East Idaho Sports staff will post a special story on Sundays – Could be a column, opinion, feature, or just something fun and goofy. Hope you enjoy, and thanks again for coming along on this journey.

EASTERN IDAHO — Dec. 31 marked the end of the first full calendar year of East Idaho Sports. It has been a pleasure to bring our readers coverage of local youth, high school, college and semi-pro sports.

Over the last 12 months, we have covered state champions, national champions, junior hockey league champions, record-breaking performances and so much more. Those of you who have followed along since we launched in August 2024 have seen how we have expanded our coverage to include some interactive features like this Sunday Special series, Game Balls and the Photo of the Week voting.

We look forward to the completion of the winter sports seasons — including some Winter Olympics stories — spring sports, the summer sports schedule and returning next fall to start it all over again.

But we also hope to continue adding to our coverage, and shine spotlights on even more of the great athletes and sports programs in eastern Idaho.

In order to do that, we would like some help.

With just two full-time reporters and one freelance photographer we will regrettably miss things. And while we try to fill those gaps ourselves, we are always open to tips.

If there was a sporting event or sports story that deserved coverage it didn’t receive, please email us at sports@eastidahonews.com. If there is an upcoming event that should be spotlighted, please email us.

Also, our Photo of the Week stories will continue to be posted midday every Monday. If you have photos from a local sporting event that you want to enter in the running, email those to us by Sunday morning. For those who follow the voting — on our public Facebook group East Idaho News – Sports — a reader-contributed photo was recently selected our Photo of the YEAR, and we would love to continue adding those on the weekly ballot.

This photo of West Jefferson’s Justus Burtenshaw during the first round of the state tournament, taken by reader Julie Hall, was selected out East Idaho Sports Photo of the Year.

Finally, we recently added a regular feature we are calling the “Whip-around”: A quick rundown of local high school sports action. In order to expand these stories to include more teams, we would love for coaches, players or parents to send us photos of game scorebooks. If you are linked to a local team and would like your team to be added to these stories, please email us, and we can let you know how to do so.

It has been a pleasure to highlight the many local athletes for their successes and hard work, and we look forward to another year of precisely that.

We will see you at a field, court, course, pool, etc., near you in 2026.