Twin Falls, Idaho (KMVT-TV) Bureau Of Land Management officials say there were over 8-thousand lightning strikes when a afternoon storm passed through the area Sunday. According to the BLM, the strikes resulted in several false alarm fire starts. Sunday night, here were three confirmed fires on the Twin Falls District; 4100 Road, Red Bridge and the Horse Butte fires. The moisture that came with the storm assisted crews as they worked to suppress the fires.
Ignited about 3:15 p.m., the Horse Butte fire was the largest of yesterday’s fires, burning 745 acres about 3 miles east of Clover Crossing in the Jarbidge Field Office. The fire was contained this morning at 9:00 and control has been set for this evening at 6:00 p.m. Resources suppressing the fire included 9 engines, a lead plane for the 2 Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems (MAFFS), 2 Single Engine Air Tankers, 1 helicopter, and Air Attack.
The 4100 Road fire west of Buhl, burned both BLM and private ground, but was contained and controlled last evening at 1 acre.
The Jerome Rural Fire Department along with 5 BLM engines responded to the Red Bridge Fire northeast of Jerome, containing and controlling it at 15 acres.
This morning, BLM crews set out to check on reports of fires that were unable to be located due to stormy conditions last night. The Clay Cave fire located at mile marker 180, near Devil’s Corral, was contained and controlled today at 2 acres. Additionally, BLM crews traveled out to the Soldier Fire, northeast of the Saylor Creek Training Range. It was also contained and controlled today at 2 acres.