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Tuesday fire update: At least 70,000 acres have burned
Elmore County began burning down Sunday, with a dozen fires ringing the city of Mountain Home on the east, west and south.
By Tuesday, firefighters were slowly beginning to get a handle on the fires that had exploded across the region, burning rapidly in the dry grasses across the desert, although increased levels of humidity and decreased winds help moderate the fire behavior
The air was filled with blue smoke from the fires that began, in most cases, from a brief lightning storm that swept through the area Sunday evening. Two, and possibly three, of the fires appeared to be human caused, but most began as lightning strikes.
Several were near the interstate or other roads, reducing visibility to the point that county sheriff's deputies were asked to either close roads or work to slow down traffic moving through the area. Onlookers who stopped at the roadsides posed potential safety problems with other cars moving too fast for conditions through the smoke.
The BLM literally ran out of resources to attack all the fires at once and some of the blazes, which began as small fires, were pushed by high and erratic winds, growing rapidly in size and melding into much larger fires. The Boise BLM requested assistance from "multiple cooperators" from across Southern Idaho, Oregon and Nevada.
At press time Tuesday morning, a huge fire was burning south of Bruneau, another major fire was burning just west of Mountain Home, a third in the Orchard area and a fourth in the Glenns Ferry area. Several smaller fires that erupted Sunday and Monday were either put out or contained.
The biggest of the fires is the Big Hill Fire, which had consumed more than 40,000 acres in an area 20 miles south of Bruneau by Tuesday morning. The BLM committed ten engines, three dozers and two water tenders to the blaze, which had merged with a second fire originally identified at the Big South Fire in the same area.
The Blair Fire had burned 5,000 acres in an area eight miles north of Glenn's Ferry, with some portions of it advancing near I-84 and for a time the smoke reduced visibility on the interstate between the China Wall and Glenns Ferry to almost zero.
The BLM committed three engines, two crews, a dozer, and a water tender to that fire.
The BLM also mobilized a local Type 3 Incident Management Team, which also will direct operations against the Morrow and Benny fires.
The Morrow Fire had burned more than 700 acres in an area four miles north of Glenn's Ferry, and the BLM send four engines, one crew, a dozer and a water tender there.
The Benny Fire, located 12 miles east of Mountain Home, had consumed 95 acres by Tuesday morning, but was rapidly growing.
The Mile Marker 101 I-84 Fire, along I-84 at milepost 101, was contained Sunday night after burning only five acres.
Backfire operations on the Squaw fire, located at milepost 13 on Simco Road, were conducted Monday night in order to secure the fire line on the east side. A backfire is used to burn out an area in front of an advancing fire, leaving it no fuel to continue burning.
That fire, which erupted Monday afternoon and is believed to have been human caused, had burned 6,000 acres by Tuesday morning. The BLM committed five engines, two dozers and two water tenders to that blaze.
A brush fire believed to be human caused Monday, burned approximately 10,000 acres, including five acres on the northwest corner of the base.
MHAFB firefighters started a backfire to create a fire break along the base perimeter road. At approximately 7:20 p.m., the on-scene commander said the fire had been contained and stopped from encroaching any further onto the base.
More than 20 vehicles and nearly 60 firefighters from the base, the city of Mountain Home and Grand View fire departments, along with the Bureau of Land Management worked together to fight the grass fire which was named "The Simco Fire."
As a safety precaution, flightline activity, to include all flying operations, was stopped and personnel were ordered to evacuate. A building containing navigation equipment on the airfield may have sustained some minor damage.
"Our Gunfighters on the fire line did an outstanding job creating a fire break and stopping the fire from coming further on to the base," said Col. Ron Buckley, 366th Fighter Wing commander. "Their fast action, along with the outstanding efforts of firefighters from the City of Mountain Home, Grand View and the BLM, truly showed the team work and expertise we have in battling fires in southwest Idaho."
Three different fires that began Sunday, The East fire, Power fire, and Union fire, all burned together over the next 24 hours and became known as the Union fire, which is located 3.5 miles west of Orchard. That fire had consumed more than 5,000 acres by Tuesday morning and was being attacked by four engines, two dozers and a water tender from the BLM.
Area fires that have been contained include the South Pen Fire, located at the intersection of Kuna-Mora and Pleasant Valley Roads, which burned 1,200 acres.
Eight BLM engines and a water tender battled that blaze, and crews were still on the scene Tuesday morning mopping up. That fire was human-caused, the BLM said.
Also listed Tuesday as contained were the Char Fire, which burned 75 acres six miles east of I-84 near Blacks Creek Road, and the North Char Fire, which burned 60 acres on the south side of Lucky Peak Reservoir.
Two BLM engines also responded early Tuesday morning to a new fire, the South Pen fire, located near Kuna Mora and Pleasant Valley Roads. The cause of that fire and its size were not known at press time.
Although positive progress had been made on all the fires, BLM officials said, "contain and control times are still undetermined on most incidents."