UPDATE: Grassy Ridge Fire grows to 71,600 acres; several roads closed

UPDATE: Dubois under evacuation order as fire heads in that direction; Grassy Ridge Fire now 75,698 acres

DUBOIS — The Grassy Ridge Fire is showing no signs of slowing down.

The fire, which was started by lightning Thursday afternoon, has grown to an estimated 71,600 acres as of 3 p.m. Saturday. The fire is located 15 miles north of St. Anthony between Hamer and Dubois.

The blaze is most active on its northern and southern fronts and is advancing in both direction due to erratic winds, Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Kelsey Griffee told EastIdahoNews.com.

The fire has held steady at 20 percent containment since Thursday night due to the work of local and federal firefighters and in part because the blaze hit the Red Road Fire scar that burned a nearby area earlier this month.

Damages thus far have been light. A previous estimate of hundreds of cattle killed has been revised. Officials now believe less than 100 cows were killed by the fire on Friday night.

No structures have been burned as of Saturday afternoon, but there are several homes and agricultural buildings on nearby ranches that are threatened by the wildfire. So far the Grassy Ridge Fire has only burned grass and brush.

A Great Basin Incident Type 2 Management Team is being brought in to relieve local resources and battle the complex fire, BLM spokeswoman Sarah Wheeler said. They’ll meet with local firefighters this evening to discuss plans moving forward.

At the moment the base camp for firefighters is South Fremont Junior High School in St. Anthony. Fremont County officials are urging the public to stay away from the area, as it hinders operations.

Fremont County has closed Red Road from the sand dunes to the Kilgore Road. Grassy Ridge road also is closed.

Kilgore Road may also close depending on how the fire progresses.

EastIdahoNews.com will update this article as more details are released.