Fires in area near double previous years

Flames from the Benwalk Fire approach the interstate near Exit 99 east of Mountain Home.

With crews finally able to contain the last of a series of range fires that burned tens of thousands of acres of range land in Elmore County early this week, officials with the Bureau of Land Management report that this year's fire season had already doubled yearly averages in this part of the state.

As of Monday, range fires to date had already consumed 127,000 acres of land in this part of the state, said Mallory Eils, a spokesperson with the BLM regional office in Boise.

On average, the regional bureau agency deals with fires that consume approximately 60,000 each season.

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