Fast Work Contains Range Fire Near Inel Blaze Consumed 13,000 Acres In Less Than 24 Hours

A range fire near the border of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory blackened 13,000 acres in less than 24 hours before firefighters stopped it Saturday afternoon.

By earlier afternoon, the Department of Energy said crews of more than 100 firefighters had lines around 80 percent of the blaze and expected full containment a few hours later.

The blaze broke out Friday afternoon, believed caused by lightning, near the southern border of the federal nuclear research facility. By early Saturday it reached an area five miles south of the INEL boundary.

Firefighters blocked off U.S. Highway 26 north and south of Atomic City late Friday to keep the road cleared for a possible evacuation of the area’s 27 residents, but re-opened the road on a limited basis Saturday afternoon.

The Department of Energy said the highway from Moreland to the junction of U.S. highways 20 and 26 near the main guard gate to INEL was opened Saturday afternoon. It was shut down earlier because of heavy equipment moving along the road to aid the firefighting effort.

At one time, authorities said the fire was burning toward Atomic City, one-half mile south of the southern border of INEL, and prepared for evacuate of the handful of people living in the area. But the blazed moved in another direction during the night.

The fire line was about six miles long and bulldozers were being used to cut a line around the blaze. Forty fighters from INEL and more than 60 others from the BLM, Forest Service and Blackfoot were on the fire lines, using both ground and air equipment

Officials said dense juniper vegetation was feeding the flames, which reportedly were jumping about 20 feet high.

No INEL facilities were threatened, but one of several power lines supplying electricity to the site was burned and power was shut off.

A commercial power dip caused the Advanced Test Reactor to “scram,” or automatically shut down.

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