With Baker County’s two biggest blazes mostly contained, firefighters are patrolling today for new blazes sparked by lightning storms Sunday night, Aug. 4.

The storms spawned dozens of bolts, and Shaun McKinney, supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, said in a press release that “at this point in the fire season, every lightning strike is a potential fire. We would like the community to know we are going to address every single fire with a full-suppression standpoint due to the current conditions.”

As of Monday afternoon, firefighters were focusing on two new blazes.

The largest, estimated at 350 acres, is burning in the Town Gulch area near Eagle Creek, south of Eagle Forks Campground and north of New Bridge, in the southern Wallowas about 24 miles northeast of Baker City.

Multiple hand crews, wildland fire engines, and aircraft are fighting the fire, said Walter Lowell, public affairs officer for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Seven additional aircraft and more hand crews have been ordered. The fire is burning in brush and timber in steep, rocky terrain. The cause was lightning.

Another fire has burned about 10 acres in the Alder Creek area about 16 miles southeast of Baker City. As of 1 p.m. Monday, fire crews, who had help from three helicopters and four single-engine air tankers, had lined the blaze and were mopping it up, said Larisa Bogardus, public information officer for the BLM’s Vale District.

Sunday’s storms also brought rain, which can keep lightning fires smoldering for days before they produce enough smoke to be noticed.

As for the existing fires, the Durkee Fire, sparked by lightning on July 17, was 86% contained as of Monday morning. The fire has burned 294,690 acres in Baker and Malheur counties. It is the biggest blaze in Baker County history, surpassing the 104,000-acre Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire in August 2015.

The Badlands Complex, a series of fires started by lightning on July 22 between Interstate 84 and Highway 86, is 99% contained at 54,563 acres.

The management team overseeing firefighting efforts, and based at Baker High School, will turn over the complex to a local team from the BLM’s Vale District at 8 p.m. Monday, said Stephanie Cooke, public information officer for the current management team.

Total cost for fighting the Durkee and Badlands Complex fires is $28 million — $20.6 million for the Durkee Fire and $7.4 million for the Badlands Complex.