Wildfires raging near Grace; and on Fort Hall reservation
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FORT HALL — One southeast Idaho wildfire is out but two others have ignited.
The two new blazes — on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and north of Grace — scorched a combined 1,700 acres Saturday evening and are still burning out of control. The fire near Grace was growing so fast that a massive DC-10 tanker jet was called in to drop retardant on the flames.
Dozens of firefighters will remain on-scene at both fires overnight and will likely spend most of Sunday trying to gain the upper hand on the blazes.
The brush fire on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation ignited around 4:30 p.m. Saturday due to lightning strikes in the Ross Fork area east of Interstate 15. Rain from a thunderstorm followed and fire officials thought the fire was out, but then strong winds struck and the fire rekindled and began to spread rapidly around 7 p.m. Saturday.
Fort Hall fire officials reported at 10 p.m. Saturday that the fire had scorched about 1,500 acres. There are serious concerns that expected high winds late Saturday night and early Sunday morning could cause the fire to burn even more ground.
Firefighters from Fort Hall, Chubbuck, the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service are battling the fire in the mountainous terrain near Ross Fork Road and Punkin Lane. Fire officials are not sure when the fire will eventually be contained.
Chubbuck and Pocatello firefighters have been deployed to the houses nearest the fire to protect them in case the blaze quickly spreads in that direction. The closest homes are about a half-mile from the wildfire. There have been no evacuations or injuries due to the fire.
Fire officials said firefighters had a difficult time reaching the blaze because of the rough terrain and four bulldozers were brought in to clear a path.
Firefighting helicopters were deployed Saturday night to dump water on the wildfire and more aircraft could be called in to battle the fire on Sunday.
Aircraft were also deployed to help battle the other wildfire raging in Southeast Idaho on Saturday evening.
Firefighting planes, including a massive DC-10 tanker, flew multiple sorties Saturday evening to stop the spread of a brush fire burning near the Caribou County Landfill north of Grace.
The fire was reported around 5:15 p.m. Saturday in a field along Highway 34 and the flames immediately threatened nearby structures.
Firefighters from multiple departments responded, but the fire quickly spread and by 9 p.m. Saturday had scorched 200 acres.
The fire nearly jumped Highway 34 but firefighters kept it east of the highway and south of Highway 30. Motorists are being told to avoid the area until the fire’s out.
As of 9 p.m. Saturday the fire was still burning out of control but the flames had not resulted in any injuries, evacuations or damage to structures, fire officials said.
Firefighters hope to have the fire contained by 2 p.m. Sunday.
There were some lightning strikes north of Grace a couple days ago, but fire officials said they’re not sure what caused the fire. The blaze will be investigated once it’s extinguished, fire officials said.
The fact the wildfire near Preston has been extinguished freed up the firefighting resources necessary to battle the fires north of Grace and on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
The Rocky Peak fire north of Preston scorched over 900 acres, but did not result in any injuries, evacuations or damage to structures.
The Rocky Peak fire started Wednesday evening and the Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center reported Saturday afternoon that the blaze was out and there were no longer any fire crews on the scene. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
This article was originally published in the Idaho State Journal. It is used here with permission.