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Storm triggers flood alerts and fire that closes I-84
A thunderstorm that swept through Elmore County Thursday night triggered a fire that temporarily closed I-84, sparked a pair of small fires in the forest and had deputies urging people along the South Fork to head for higher ground because of the potential for flash floods, especially in the Pony and Elk Complex fire areas.
The worst incident of the evening was the May Fire between mileposts 75-78 near I-84, believed to have been caused when a power pole was damage in the high winds that accompanied the storm. The "failure of the power structure" is believed to have caused a power line to spark the fire. The fire was first reported about 8 p.m., BLM officials said.
With winds gusting at times to 60 mph, the fire quickly grew and by 9:30 p.m. smoke had reduced visibility along I-84 forcing the interstate to be shut down between the Mayfield Road at Exit 71 and Exit 90 at Mountain Home.
The fireline at one point grew to about three miles long.
The BLM sent crews for eight engines, and two bulldozers to the scene, reinforced by an engine and other heavy equipment from the Mountain Home Rangeland Fire Protection Association (composed of ranchers and farmers in the area), two engines from the Oasis Fire Department, plus some crews from the Orchard Range military training area. In addition, before night fell the BLM had committed two Single Engine Air Tankers and a helicopter to the fire.
The interstate was reopened about midnight and the fire was declared contained about 1 a.m. Fire crews expected to have it fully controlled over the next 48 hours.
As of Friday morning, the BLM estimated that approximately 2,500 acres had burned.
In the Boise National Forest, lightning associated with the storm, which moved unusually from north to south, triggered the four-acre Cayuse Fire about one mile north of Featherville. It was contained Friday.
The forest service had 60 people, including one engine and two 20-person hand crews, working the fire. It was expected to be contained today.
South of Atlanta some Smoke Jumpers descended on a small quarter-acre fire about a half mile southeast of the power station. The fire was contained Friday.
Throughout the Boise National Forest the storm triggered a total of eight new fires, all five acres or less. Several were put out, leaving the number of blazes currently being worked by forest service firefighter, including holdovers from previous fires, at eight.
Fire lookouts and air detection flights are watching closely for any new fires, particularly those due to holdover fires from the past two days of lightning, forest service spokesperson Dave Olsen said. "A few of the fires received heavy rain which helps to reduce the fire's spread, but does not fully extinguish them," he said. Other fires only had a light amount of rain.
More lightning is anticipated later today.
Heavy rains from the storm caused the National Weather Service to issue flash flood warnings in western and central Elmore County, especially in the areas burned by the Pony and Elk Complex fires last year, where little cover is available to absorb the moisture.
The rains may have triggered an alarm at roughly 6 p.m. at Anderson Ranch Dam, which operators quickly determined was a false alarm, but initial concerns over a possible breach sent Sheriff Rick Layer and several of his deputies into the mountains.
Although the issue with the dam was quickly dispelled, because of flooding fears due to the storm, deputies began alerting fishermen and others along the South Fork to consider moving to higher ground until the storm was over.
Because the incident occurred during a shift change, Layher had half a dozen officers available to issue the possible flooding alert.
"We went up there due to the alert at the dam, but once we got there, due to the rains, we thought we should try to get as many people out and up to the safety of high ground as we could," Layher said. "It was more of a precaution than anything else."
The Elmore County Highway District said that some roads in the Anderson Dam area had experienced erosion up to their edges, there was a small rockfall on the lower dam road, and some water was across the road near Deer Creek, but all of the issues were quickly taken care of.
The storm just missed Mountain Home to the west, resulting in only a brief period of high winds and rain. No major damage was reported in the city.