HORSESHOE BEND -- Firefighters contained a brush fire that threatened homes south of Horseshoe Bend Thursday afternoon. Officials tell us that about 10 to 20 homes on Horseshoe Bend Hill were evacuated.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management said a lot of resources were put on the Summit Fire to keep it from spreading and destroying homes. Fire departments from Horseshoe Bend, Eagle and the BLM responded.
Six fire engines, five structure protection units, two water tenders, one bulldozer, two helicopters and one plane were called to the scene.
Windy conditions and dry brush fueled the fire, which burned around 100 acres. One outbuilding was lost in the fire. The fire was reported around 2:20 p.m.
"When you do get a grass fire that burns hot and fast, those homes are usually in the direct path of that," said Nevil Humphreys of the Eagle Fire Department.
The fire burned to within about a quarter-mile of Highway 55, but the road remained open to traffic.
Boise County Sheriff's deputies went door-to-door urging residents near the fire to evacuate their homes.
The Kreitzer family lives in one of the homes that was evacuated. They were all out of the house when the fire started. Ingrid Kreitzer said their neighbor alerted them to the fire.
"He called and he said, 'You know, I think you probably should come up. It looks like it might be coming closer. You might just want to come down and hose anything in case it jumps over,'" Kreitzer said.
She said with all the recent fires, her family had been creating a fire plan in case of the wildfire.
Crews on the scene told us homes they saw had good defensible space, helping to keep them safe.
"We were able to get in there, limb up some brush and what not," said Paul Story, a firefighter who came in with his crew from Salt Lake to help with recent fires. "It was very minimal effort on our part, and so the homeowner did a good job in that regard."
Humphreys said the fire is human-caused and remains under investigation.
No homes were destroyed in the fire.
