BY KAREN BOSSICK

Firefighters are attacking a fire six miles east of Bellevue with the help of a big jet air tanker and single engine air tankers, otherwise known as SEATs.

The fire is believed to have started before noon in Sharps Canyon in Muldoon Canyon near Bellevue. By 1 p.m. it was estimated at 100 acres.

Flames are racing up the hill in the area, torching an area west of the Ee-Da-How Ranch. The fire is burning both grass and timber as winds push it to the northeast .

Firefighters from BLM, the Sawtooth National Forest and Bellevue Rural Fire Department are on the scene.

Bellevue resident Kristin Fletcher said she saw a large air tanker, or what resembled a repurposed jet airplane, dumping “a huge load” on the fire. The big plane was supplemented by the single engine air tanker, which in a previous life was known as a crop duster.

“It’s the burning time and things are getting hot!” she said.

The fire seemed déjà vu for Bellevue residents, considering the Martin Canyon fire broke out on July 23, 2017, in Muldoon Canyon. That one was triggered by target practice. Fletcher said she was told that this one started with a campfire.

“This one looks like a bigger fire, but it’s hard to tell as it’s a little farther away on the other side of the ranch,” she added.