UPDATE: Buildings burn during brush fire in Tipanuk

Three structures burned Wednesday morning after a brush fire ignited in the residential area of the Tipanuk community on Wednesday with firefighters having the blaze mostly under control that afternoon.

Fire crews with the Bureau of Land Management in Boise were the first to respond to the wildfire north of Sea Breeze Lane at about 11:41 a.m. When the firefighters arrived on scene, they found the three structures already burning.

According to BLM officials, the fire likely spread from the first structure to the other two with the flames also burning approximately three acres of grass and brush.

Three buildings, including this one, burned as a brush fire swept across a residential area on Sea Breeze Lane in Tipanuk on Wednesday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

In addition to the BLM, crews from the Mountain Home Rural Fire Department and the Oasis Rural Fire Department responded to the fire, which was mostly contained to private property. Fire resources on scene included five engines, one water tender and two structure engines.

As the fire started spreading east from private property, it was "raining ash" on BLM lands, said Nate Bartels, the fire commander from the BLM. To prevent the blaze from getting out of hand, crews made the immediate decision to fight the fire.

An official from Idaho Power was on hand turning off or disconnecting power to threatened structure so the firefighters could safely do their jobs. Two power lines came down as a direct result of the fire.

The Oasis Fire Department responded early on with two engines and at least five fighters. Because the fire was located outside their district, the two engines were staged nearby but were ready help if asked by the BLM fire chief.

The Mountain Home Rural Fire Department responded with seven firefighters and two engines. The lead agency on the fire was the BLM and after explaining the situation, it was agreed the Mountain Home firefighters were in the best position to directly fight a portion of the fire that was threatening a nearby home.

Within minutes of arriving at the scene, Chuck Van Meer, the lead firefighter from the Mountain Home department, had one engine heading toward the that threatened one home. The resident wasn't in the home at the time of the fire.

Chief Deputy Mike Barclay from the Elmore County Sheriff's Department said a number of people in the rural community have built defensible barriers around their homes and property to protect their land against a range fire. However, he added that a number of other residents lack that type of fire protection.

Without this type of barrier, people stand a good chance of losing their homes and belongings in these types of fast-moving brush fires.

Les Moore, a resident who lives across the street from where the fire began, remembers a brush fire in 2006 that burned through the neighborhood. Since that time, he's kept the brush on his property cut low.

The cause of Wednesday's fire remains under investigation, but authorities in the scene believed that it originated from a single residential structure.