Taking no chances, fire officials threw every fire-fighting resource they could at a fast-moving wildfire that began burning on the south end of the Bellevue Triangle late Wednesday.
As of Thursday afternoon, the so-called "Nature Fire" near Picabo and Silver Creek was estimated at 14,000 acres, according to Sky Buffat, fire information officer with the Twin Falls District of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
In all, about 138 firefighters were working on the blaze by Thursday, Buffat said. Though the fire had reached the flats in the triangle, the majority of its acreage was in the sagebrush-covered hills south of the agricultural area, she said.
"It is pretty active today," she said. "It's putting up a lot of smoke."
The blaze began three miles southwest of Picabo, adjacent to The Nature Conservancy's 883-acre Silver Creek Preserve in the Bellevue Triangle on the south end of the Wood River Valley.
The fire is confirmed as human caused, according to the BLM. An investigation is still underway.
The 22-square-mile fire area includes private, BLM and state lands. No injuries have been reported.
Crews from the Carey, Bellevue and Wood River Fire and Rescue departments responded to the fire, along with the Forest Service and BLM. Blaine County Sheriff's Department deputies personally contacted residences in the fire area Wednesday night and were on the scene Thursday as well.
No evacuation orders were in place as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
Despite the best efforts of firefighters, they were unable to stop the blaze from burning several structures and damaging agricultural crops in the area Wednesday.
The fire burned Bud Purdy's barley fields at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Two outbuildings and an outlying camp trailer were lost Wednesday night.
Brush and sagebrush on an island in Silver Creek also burned. Power poles were felled by the fire on Kilpatrick Road, but the Silver Creek Visitor Center and several nearby homes were protected by fire crews.
Planes and helicopters dropped water and retardant through early evening Wednesday until high winds forced a stop. Buffat said the primary focus of the water and retardant drops as well as the firefighters on the ground Thursday were to provide structure protection.
"They're definitely making a huge effort," she said.
Buffat said firefighters are also focused on minimizing damage to the Silver Creek area and local habitat for the greater sage grouse.
Brian Richter, a flyfishing guide with Silver Creek Outfitters in Ketchum, said he was driving away from the preserve Wednesday afternoon when he spotted the blaze. He said the fast-moving wildfire was being fanned by a stiff west wind.
"It jumped the road and it's now in the south of The Nature Conservancy (preserve)," he reported.
As he left the area, Richter was passed by fire engines rushing to the scene, he said. A helicopter was also beginning to drop bucket loads of water on the blaze.
"They were pulling water out of Sullivan Slough," he said.
Fire officials said they may be able to have the blaze contained by 7 p.m. tonight. Non-fire personnel are asked to avoid the area until the fire is contained.
Express reporter Dana Dugan contributed to this story.
This human-caused wildfire on the south end of the Bellevue Triangle near Silver Creek, which began burning late Wednesday, had burned about 14,000 acres by Thursday afternoon.
Photo by David N. Seelig
