Wildfire alongside I-15 burns around 150 acres in less than 3 hours
Published at | Updated at
UPDATE:
According to spokesman Chris Burger, the Bureau of Land Management expects the fire to be completely contained late Wednesday night.
ORIGINAL STORY:
MALAD CITY — A fire between Malad City and the Malad Summit has burned around 150 acres in less than three hours.
The Bureau of Land Management Idaho Fire Department received a call reporting the fire around 2 p.m. Wednesday, according to spokesman Chris Burger. The fire is located alongside the northbound side of Interstate 15 near mile marker 20. There is no estimation on when crews will have it contained at this point, Burger said.
When BLM crews arrived on the scene, there were structures in danger, according to Burger, but “things are looking much better.”
As of now, I-15 has not been closed, according to Idaho State Police, but witnesses say road visibility is impacted.
BLM, as well as crews from the U.S. Forest Service and Oneida County, are on the scene.
As Burger explained to EastIdahoNews.com, the prediction that the fire has burned 150 acres at this point is very loose because the attention at the moment is on “fighting a fire that’s still growing.” It is not bigger than 250 acres, he said.
Record-setting heat, low humidity and high winds are “causing problems,” Burger said, urging residents to exercise additional caution.
“With how hot and dry it’s been, please make sure you’re checking your chains, making sure your tires are in good condition,” he said. “Use extreme caution — even though we’re not under restrictions, use extreme caution when doing any type of burning.”
As Burger pointed out, there have been at least 10 fires in southeastern Idaho alone in the past week.
“We’re definitely getting dry and it’s showing by the number of starts,” he said.
The cause of this fire is under investigation. EastIdahoNews.com will provide further details as they become available.