Fremont County sees alarming amount of wildfires in April

FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — Fremont County emergency responders have responded to an alarming number of wildfires since the beginning of the month.

In total, there have been 25 wildfires in Fremont County between April 1 - 16. Four of them alone happened on the same day, April 15.

In response, Fremont County officials are working to get the word out about burning safety and fire restrictions.

Most of the fires were caused by controlled burns that were either left alone or grew because of the wind. One firefighter was hurt during one of the recent fires and had to be taken to the hospital.

Fremont County usually sees only five to ten wildfires this time of year.

"But this year, there's been a lot of people burning and they haven't paid attention to the weather forecast to see if there's going to be winds or they're just burning something that they're not able to control," said Fremont County Fire Marshal, Keith Richey.

Richey says people need to get a permit before doing a controlled burn and use common sense. If their fire gets out of hand, they need to call the fire department before it gets even worse.