The Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that it was preparing to evacuate more residents near the Moose fire.

The fire started on July 17 and had burned 64,078 acres in the Salmon-Challis National Forest as of Thursday morning. The human-caused fire began near the confluence of Moose Creek and Salmon River about 17 miles north of Salmon and remains under investigation.

On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office placed Zone 2 (both sides of U.S. Highway 93 from Tower Creek to North Fork) in “SET” evacuation status. Zones 7 & 8 (Squaw Creek to Pine Creek on the Salmon River Road) and Zone 1 (Tower Creek to Carmen, west of Salmon River) are at “SET” status and all other zones are in “Ready,” according to a Wednesday update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The sheriff’s office recommends residents in “SET” status to assemble emergency supply kits and be prepared to evacuate to an emergency meeting location outside the fire area.

The fire is about 20 percent contained and estimated to be fully contained on Aug. 30, according to the InciWeb Incident Information System report.

Great Basin Team 1 took command of the fire Wednesday morning, replacing Great Basin Team 2. There are 937 firefighters, 25 hand crews, 48 fire engines and 10 helicopters working to contain the fire.

Firefighters are focused on protecting the Highway 93 corridor and the Salmon Municipal Watershed. Highway 93 temporarily closed Tuesday after spot fires were ignited on the east side of Highway 93. The fires were quickly contained and the highway re-opened.

The watershed is a vital resource that provides up to 1,000 gallons to 2,000 gallons of spring water per minute to the city of Salmon, said Salmon Administrator Emery Penner in a Monday virtual community meeting. The other source of water the city may rely on more if the watershed is compromised is the Salmon River.

“It’s a wonderful asset that we get to use,” Penner said. “(It) benefits the community greatly. I would hate to have to change things up but we are making plans if we have to.”

A pilot car system on Salmon River Road is available for residents, river permit holders and river shuttles for two-way traffic between North Fork and Panther Creek. The road is closed to all other traffic and alternate routes are available on Williams Creek Road to Deep Creek Road, then north on Panther Creek Road.

The Forest Service expects the fire to continue growing with warm and dry weather conditions forecasted through Monday.

Information about the fire and evacuation updates is available on the InciWeb report at inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8249.