The Elkhorn Fire is burning on river-right near Trail Flat Camp on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Map courtesy of InciWeb

A wildfire northwest of Stanley grew massively in size this week, from 35 acres Tuesday to 960 acres by Thursday evening, according to the Salmon-Challis National Forest.

The Elkhorn Fire, started by lightning July 29, is burning through subalpine fir and dead trees “on a cliff face adjacent to the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and approximately seven river miles from Boundary Boat Launch,” according to federal wildfire tracking site InciWeb .

Back-to-back red flag warnings on Wednesday and Thursday fueled the rapid spread, according to the Salmon-Challis National Forest.

Smoke drifted into Stanley and Challis on both afternoons, pushing air quality to

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