The Moose Fire started near Salmon, Idaho on July 17, 2022 and in about a month was the largest actively burning wildfire in the lower 48 states. Starting from the first minutes and continuing into the following weeks, the strategy was always to put the fire out. However, large runs of fire growth burned up to 12 square miles in a single 8-hour push. Hot branches carried in the smoky air landed up to 5 miles away from the fire's edge and ignited new spot fires. Local communities, forest staff, and numerous incident management teams struggled for months to fight the fire and deal with the impacts.