The Daybreak Fire burning between Hibbard and Fox creeks, about 12 miles north of Huntington, on July 15, 2025. (Al Crouch, BLM/Contributed Photo)

Firefighters from several agencies, aided by an aerial armada including a converted jet airliner, stopped a wind-driven wildfire that threatened several homes as it burned through parched grass and sagebrush in steep terrain near the Snake River Road at the eastern edge of Baker County on Tuesday afternoon, July 15.

The Daybreak Fire, named for the ranch along Hibbard Creek where it started, about 12 miles north of Huntington, was 40% contained Tuesday night after burning 851 acres, said Larisa Bogardus, public affairs specialist for the BLM’s Vale District.

(The initial estimate of 500 to 550 acres was changed to 851 after aerial mapping Wednesday morning.)

Bogardus said on Wednesday morning that there are “direct and indirect lines in place around the entire footprint” of the fire. “Some islands burning in the interior, but no threat of escape,” she said.

Bogardus confirmed that a tractor started the fire, but it’s not clear whether the tractor itself caught fire or caused a spark while working near the Hibbard Creek Road, which is just west of Brownlee Reservoir and the Snake River Road. That gravel county road, which connects Huntington and Richland, was closed Tuesday due to the fire but is open now.

The fire, the largest this year in Baker County, is under investigation.

Four fire engines, one bulldozer and more than 30 firefighters worked on the blaze through the night, Bogardus said.

No homes or other buildings were damaged, she said.

The fire did damage Idaho Power Company power poles, and the company brought replacement poles to the area Tuesday night. The fire also damaged sections of wooden fence, Bogardus said.

The fire burned on private property.

North winds gusting to 20 mph pushed the fire across the Snake River Road and to the reservoir. On Tuesday evening the fire spread to the north and northwest, toward Fox Creek, the next major canyon west of the reservoir.

Heavy rain fell in the area on the Fourth of July, but the area has had little rain otherwise since March.

BLM crews helped volunteers from the Huntington and Keating rural fire districts, and Burnt River, Vale and Lookout/Glasgow rangeland fire protection associations, protect homes and other buildings, Bogardus said.

Members of the Grande Ronde rappeller crew, along with volunteers from the Keating Rural Fire Protection District, helped rescue several horses that were grazing in the burned area, Bogardus said.

There are a few homes along Hibbard Creek Road and several others along the Snake River Road between Morgan and Fox creeks. Hibbard Creek is about a mile south of Fox Creek and two miles south of Connor Creek, and about a mile north of Morgan Creek.

More than half a dozen aircraft worked on the fire, including an MD-87 jetliner, converted to carry up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant. Several single-engine air tankers also dropped retardant, and a helicopter scooped water from the reservoir to dump on flames.