Newspaper Archives

Morning News | Idaho State Journal | Sho-Ban News

A trail of fire descends on part of Howard Mountain toward Pocatello in the evening on Sunday. JOE KLINE / IDAHO STATE JOURNAL

POCATELLO — Dubbed the Howard Fire, the season’s first local wildfire claimed more than 400 acres Sunday and filled the Pocatello valley with thick smoke. Joanna Wilson, of the Bureau of Land Management, said the cause of the fire, located on Howard Mountain in Trail Creek, was still under investigation.

Cars lined the streets on Pocatello’s westside to watch as the flames crested the ridge above Facer Mountain and Kraft Road just before sunset. The fire was 20 percent contained at press time and crews expected to have a line around the fire by midnight. Wilson said firefighters hoped to have the fire under control by 8 a.m. today.

A heavy air tanker and two single-engine planes were called in to help ground crews battle the brush fire. One family voluntarily left the area, and Wilson said while the fire burned within a half mile of some structures, there was no official evacuation. “They just felt more comfortable leaving while the fire crews were there,” Wilson said.

Merlin Miller, of the Chubbuck Fire Department, said firefighters from Pocatello, Chubbuck, the BLM, Fort Hall, Power County and the U.S. Forest Service responded to the fire, which was reported at about 1:30 p.m. Miller said firefighting efforts were hampered by winds gusting up to 40 mph and the dry rugged terrain in the hills behind Pocatello.

“There are some really steep ridges and cliffs in there,” Miller said. “We can’t get our trucks to the fire,” Miller said. Mike Houston, of the National Weather Service, said the wind was expected to start dying down at dusk and slow to about 10 mph by midnight. But rain to aid firefighters in putting out the blaze was not in the forecast. The wildfire burned north, away from buildings on Facer Mountain and Kraft Road. Miller said Idaho Power crews worked to restore power at the J.R. Simplot Don Plant on Highway 30. While the phosphate plant was put on notice, it was never in the fire’s path. “Nothing is in harm’s way except our crews,” he said.

RESIDENTS PREPARED TO LEAVE HOMES POCATELLO — As a wildfire burned behind their homes on Facer Mountain Sunday, Bill Zahn and Clayton Facer weren’t concerned. “I have complete faith in (the firefighters),” Zahn said. Zahn, who’s lived in the sagecovered hills off Kraft Road for 15 years, said he saw the smoke while fishing on the American Falls reservoir and a neighbor called to tell him about the fire in his backyard. “If the wind stays down, it should be alright,” he said. Facer said residents closed their windows, turned on lawn sprinklers and were prepared to leave if they were told to. “That’s about all you can do,” he said. One family left the area voluntarily, but no official evacuation was called for, said Joanna Wilson with the Bureau of land Management. The fire was expectde to be contained by midnight Sunday A plane flies over Howard Mountain as the flames from a wildfire start to cross the ridge on Sunday.