Name: Wildfire in Idaho, October 9 to 11, 2020
Start: 2020-10-09T15:00
End: 2020-10-11T17:00
Location: Idaho

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PIH wrote it up.

A car became engulfed in flames and eventually caused a wildfire that burned 1,500 acres of grass and sagebrush 13 miles south of Bellevue near Timmerman Hill. It did shut down Highway 75 south of Timmerman Hill for a very short time on October 9th. It began around 4 PM MDT on October 9th and was contained by 9 PM and controlled by October 11th at 6 PM.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Pocatello, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 9, 1:54 PM MST, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 9, 1:54 PM MST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Wood River Foothills

When: October 9, 3:00 PM MST to October 11, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Wood River Foothills forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 43.412, -113.980 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A car became engulfed in flames and eventually caused a wildfire that burned 1,500 acres of grass and sagebrush 13 miles south of Bellevue near Timmerman Hill. It did shut down Highway 75 south of Timmerman Hill for a very short time on October 9th. It began around 4 PM MDT on October 9th and was contained by 9 PM and controlled by October 11th at 6 PM.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Idaho in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in Idaho, October 2020

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 925733.