Lavaside Fire fully contained, 1200 acres burned
FIRTH, Idaho (KIFI) - UPDATE 4/25/21, 7:05 p.m.: Idaho Fire officials confirmed the Lavaside Fire burning southwest of Firth is fully contained, as of 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
At last count, 1200 acres of mostly private land burned from the fire. Officials have not released a cause of the fire, but are reminding people to use "extreme caution" when doing controlled burns.
"Even with the recent precipitation across the region, the grass and brush will dry out quickly once warmer temperatures and wind return," officials wrote in a post on the Bureau of Land Management's Facebook page.
Update 4/24 6:36 A post on The Bureau of Land management's Facebook page says the blaze is 75% contained at this hour, but no "significant fire activity observed." Crews had planned on it being 100% contained by now. Their new timeline is for Saturday at 6pm. The adjustment was made due to the sensitive nature of the fire.
The post goes on to say light precipitation occurred over the fire. 1 hand crew and 4 engines are scheduled to staff the fire tomorrow.
We expect another update tomorrow when 100% containment is reached.
Original story- Homeowners who were asked to evacuate from around the Lavaside Fire southwest of Firth can return home.
On Thursday, the voluntary evacuations were issued when winds started pushing the fire towards homes and other buildings along 700 North. They ask the general public to stay away from the fire area. Only homeowners will be allowed on 700 N.
The fire remains at 25% contained and is mapped at 1,192 acres. Chris Burger, public information officer for BLM, said the fire did not increase overnight.
Burger said full containment to still planned for Saturday, April 24 at 6 p.m. Crews will continue to reinforce the control lines to make sure the fire is extinguished.
Approximately 100 firefighters were helping with the fire from multiple fire agencies around southeast Idaho.
The Lavaside Fire started on Wednesday around 4 p.m. The exact cause is still under investigation.
The fire has burning along both sides of the Snake River in thick brush, cottonwood trees and juniper trees.
An evacuation center was set up at AW Johnson Elementary School in Firth on Thursday. It has now been shut down.
