Wildfire in Idaho, September 16 to 19, 2000

Dry lightning ignited several blazes in Eastern Idaho, 3 of which grew into large fires that persisted for several days. The Taylor and Ireland fires would account for over 14,000 acres burned of sagebrush, junipers and mixed conifers. While in the Arco desert, the INEEL fire would burn 8000 acres of sagebrush and grass. Costs for suppressing these fires have not been estimated, however, no structures or crops were lost or threatened. An additional expense still to be accounted for is the cost of rehabilitation. The BLM plans to re-seed 100,000 acres of burned sagebrush this winter. Burning has been so complete in areas of the Arco desert as to cause extreme erosion. Some burned desert areas have lost 86 tons of topsoil per acre; when losing 5 acres of topsoil is considered severe erosion. Dust storms across the desert have periodically closed state routes that traverse the area.