Telegraph fire grows to over 1,500 acres
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UPDATE
IDAHO FALLS — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says as of 9:50 p.m. the Telegraph fire is at 1,537 acres.
Firefighters expect to contain the fire by 8 p.m. Thursday.
ORIGINAL
IDAHO FALLS — A wildfire is burning along U.S. Highway 20 west of Idaho Falls.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says the Telegraph Fire is now estimated at 700 acres and growing. It is burning about 20 miles west of the city. The fire started before 7 p.m. Wednesday, and several agencies are responding, including Idaho National Laboratory Fire Department, BLM, and the National Forest Service.
Firefighters also called in four single-engine air tankers and a helicopter to battle the blaze from the air. Four dozers are also on scene to help construct a fire line around the fire.
“Firefighters will work late tonight to complete a line around the fire and stop forward spread,” Incident Commander Farron Kunkel said in a news release.
Near the Telegraph Fire, the Idaho Falls Fire Department responded to the Corral Fire on Wednesday, estimated at 10 acres. U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Sarah Wheeler said crews estimate to have the fire contained by 9 p.m.
BLM officials have not given any estimated time of containment on the Telegraph Fire or its cause. As of 8:15 p.m., the fire had not caused the highway to close.
EastIdahoNews.com will update this developing story.