Gap Fire burning in Pocatello foothills

UPDATE 6/9/17 4:22 p.m.

The Bureau of Land Management said the Gap Fire has burned 486 acres.

BLM said no new fire growth occurred this afternoon, and cooler temperatures helped firefighters put out hotspots.

Fire managers anticipate full containment of the fire by 7:30 p.m. this evening.

UPDATE 6/9/17 2 p.m.

The Bureau of Land Management said the fire is 60 percent contained. Kelsey Griffee, the Fire Information and Prevention Officer for the Bureau of Land Management said the fire was started by individuals who were target shooting. She could not comment on what type of targets were involved. The situation is under investigation and more details will be released later. Griffee said if a person is found liable for causing a wildfire on public land, they could be liable for the full cost of putting out the fire. They hope to have the fire close to 100 containment by Friday night, however, some of that depends on potential weather challenges. Currently, 486-acres have been burned from the Gap Fire. No more air resources will be used on Friday, unless there are significant changes to the fire.

UPDATE 6/9/17 9:50 a.m.

The Bureau of Land Management says the fire is 40 percent contained.

Firefighters have made their way around the entire fire perimeter and do not anticipate any further growth.

Officials expect the fire to be completely controlled by June 10.

BLM says the fire burned approximately 300-acres of public lands managed by the BLM.

Investigators attributed the cause of the fire to shooting, and no further details are available at this time.

Officials say to expect to see smoke in the Pocatello area as fuels within the fire’s interior continue to burn.

UPDATE 6/8/17 9:38 p.m.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates containment at 40 percent and total control at two days.

The BLM confirmed the cause of the fire was from some people out-of-state who were shooting guns in the hills. The BLM said it is still under investigation at this point. The bureau does want to remind everyone to be careful when out shooting. In hot and dry conditions, it doesn’t take much to start a fire like the Gap Fire.

Mike Shaw, incident commander with BLM, said one of the toughest things for crews when fighting this fire was the terrain because of how steep it is. It’s hard to get fire engines up to the fire. The constant shift in winds also made the fire difficult for crews.

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UPDATE 6/8/17 8:09 p.m.

The Gap Fire in Pocatello has now burned about 300 acres, according to the incident commander with the Bureau of Land Management.

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UPDATE 6/8/17 6:50 p.m.

The fire burning near Century High School south of Pocatello is now being called the Gap Fire. It is still only about 2 to 3 percent contained. It has burned at least 130 acres.

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ORIGINAL STORY:

A fire is burning in Pocatello east of Century High School in the foothills.

Authorities say it started around 3:10 p.m., and a Bannock County deputy saw people there shooting guns.

So far it has burned 80 acres.

The wind is blowing the fire east/southeast toward Black Rock Canyon and is not threatening any structures at this time.

Air support is on the way. The BLM and the Pocatello Valley Fire Department are fighting the fire.

It is currently two percent contained.

Deputies are still investigating.