POCATELLO — A quarter-inch of rain extinguished what was left of the wildfire burning in the hills near Century High School.
Fire officials reported the precipitation that fell Friday night and Saturday morning apparently eliminated the remaining hot spots burning on the hillsides along the city’s southern border and enabled almost all of the firefighters to return to their stations.
A Journal reporter who visited the wildfire scene Saturday afternoon reported that no flames or even smoke was visible from the fire that was first reported on Thursday afternoon and scorched nearly 500 acres before being contained by firefighters on Friday.
Fire officials said a handful of firefighters are remaining on the scene to help rehabilitate the area damaged by the fire. The public is being asked to stay off the charred acreage to enable the land to recover.
The blaze was East Idaho’s first major wildfire of the season and threatened some houses near Century High School before firefighters halted its advance. In the end the fire did not result in any injuries or damage to structures.
The fire crews that fought the blaze included many rookie firefighters battling their first wildfire.
Cooler temperatures on Friday helped firefighters to contain the blaze and by Friday afternoon the firefighting effort was focused on extinguishing hot spots within the fire’s perimeter.
About 80 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Pocatello Valley Fire Department responded to the blaze.
Authorities said the fire was started by stray bullets fired by a group of individuals out target shooting Thursday afternoon in the hills near Century High School. Fire officials said it’s possible those individuals will have to foot the bill for the massive emergency response to the wildfire since their gunfire sparked the blaze.
The blaze was first reported around 3:30 p.m. Thursday and at one point its flames were spreading rapidly in multiple directions. Firefighters said they were able to slow its progress Thursday evening only because of changes in wind direction and help from three firefighting airplanes that flew multiple sorties dropping retardant.
By Thursday night only 40 percent of the wildfire had been contained and fire officials were concerned about whether multiple houses near Century High School would need to be evacuated.
But as firefighters gained the upper hand on the blaze Friday morning it became clear that no evacuations were needed.
Fire officials pointed out that many of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service firefighters battling the blaze were rookies who graduated from Eastern Idaho’s Wildland Fire School in late May.
Fire officials praised the new firefighters for their efforts to extinguish the blaze near Century, adding that there were “no rookie mistakes.”
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