By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
A wildfire in Idaho was ignited by a strike of lightning on Monday and quickly burned over 110,000 acres by Wednesday morning. The fire is burning on the Idaho National Laboratory site, located close to Idaho Falls.
The blaze is being called the Sheep Fire for its proximity to a nearby dirt access road called Sheep Road.
Smoke blowing over highways has reportedly caused visibility issues, and evacuations were prompted after a change in wind directions, according to officials.
"Unfortunately, conditions will not be ideal for fighting the Sheep Fire, with dry, hot and windy conditions expected to persist around Idaho Falls into the weekend and early next week," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger said.
Juan Alvarez, Chief Operations Officer of the Idaho National Laboratory, confirmed on Tuesday at a press conference that the fire was ignited by lightning at 6:30 p.m Monday.
“Fires this time of the year is something that we expect and prepare for,” Alvarez said. “As a result, as we fight this fire, there have been no injuries, no facilities have been threatened and the public has not been threatened at all.”
According to Alvarez, all non-essential personnel have been evacuated from potentially impacted facilities, which includes the Idaho National Laboratory, which is considered one of the nation’s leading research and development centers for nuclear energy.
As a result of the Sheep Fire, all non-essential employees are being evacuated at several INL site facilities: Central Facilities Area, Advanced Test Reactor, Naval Reactors Facility, EBR-1, Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, RWMC, AMWTP, INTEC. inl.gov/alert/departme…
See Idaho National Lab's other Tweets
In a news release on Tuesday evening, the INL wrote that operations were curtailed at most site facilities. They also wrote that Bureau of Land Management and INL fire crews supported by other collaborating municipalities are working together to fight the fire.
Deger added that the weather won't be much of a help to crews battling the blaze.
"Winds will remain particularly gusty today and early tonight, before backing off a little over the next few days," he said. "This part of Idaho is typically dry this time of year, and that looks to be the case through at least early next week. So there won't be much relief water-wise from Mother Nature."
RELATED:
'It's just a matter of time:' Despite fewer wildfires so far in 2019, California braces for another busy fire season
The most common ways people spark devastating wildfires in the US
How inhaling wildfire smoke can wreak havoc on your health
Severe storms to rumble across north-central US into Thursday night
'It's just a matter of time:' Despite fewer wildfires so far in 2019, California braces for another busy fire season
The most common ways people spark devastating wildfires in the US
How inhaling wildfire smoke can wreak havoc on your health
Severe storms to rumble across north-central US into Thursday night
Joseph Campbell, the Communications Liaison at the INL, said that if winds blow in unpredictable directions, the plan will be for firefighting teams to protect laboratory facilities.
“Your guess on the weather is as good as mine,” he said. “The prevailing winds in this area are always from the southwest to the northeast. What we’ve seen over the past night is out of the ordinary for us.”
The Sheep Fire is one of six wildfires currently burning in Idaho, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Download the free AccuWeather app for more details on temperature trends in your community. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
No comments:
Post a Comment