Wildfire — Caribou Highlands, Idaho

2016-08-21 to 2016-08-31 · Caribou Highlands, Idaho

Event narrative

A wildfire began August 21st 5 to 10 miles east of Idaho Falls and eventually grew to 53,000 acres It was later determined to be human caused. High winds on August 22nd and 23rd caused the rapid growth of the wildfire. Over 4 million dollars were spent battling the wildfire. Road closures were the following: East Sunnyside from Crescent Drive, the intersection of Bone and Lincoln, Long Valley Road, and roads leading to Ririe Reservoir, including Blacktail, Tex Creek, Meadow Creek and Fall Creek. Residents in the Birch Creek Loop east of Ririe and Moss Avery road were encouraged to evacuate their homes. A disaster declaration was declared for Bonneville county by the Idaho governor. 785 homes were threatened in the Irwin and Swan Valley areas along with Palisades. In the end no lives were lost and no injuries occurred. No houses or cabins were destroyed and only some damage occurred to shed like structurres and telephone poles. Property damage was very minimal. the fire was considered contained and controlled on September 1st.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 658614. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.