Range fire in Idaho grows to 180,000 acres

CASTLEFORD, Idaho – A huge Idaho range fire has scorched about 180,000 acres in remote Owyhee County, but fire officials said shifting winds may allow them to contain the blaze by midweek.

Sparked Friday night by dry lightning and pushed by 35 mph winds, the Clover fire raced through sage and grass Sunday, burning one wheatfield and a ranch building.

“I’ve been out here watching it all day,” Sharlee Blick, who lives near Castleford, said Sunday. “You can just see cows in a dead run, trying to outrun it. That was kind of scary.”

The fire fed on dry grass that has thrived during an unusually wet spring.

“We’re talking tall, thick grass,” said Sky Buffat, a BLM spokeswoman in Twin Falls. “Just because there was so much spring rain, we’ve had to deal with some heavy fuels this year.”

Buffat said the fire was 30 percent contained and could be fully contained by late Wednesday because the wind is expected to push flames back into already burned areas.

Fewer than 10,000 people live in Owyhee County, which is six times the size of Delaware.