STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY DIANE PEAVEY

The Sharps Fire, which started 6 miles east of Bellevue Sunday morning, headed north on Tuesday, heading into the Sawtooth National Forest as it grew to 35,000 acres.

That’s a little over 54 square miles if you do the math. Firefighters had contained 21 percent of the perimeter as of Tuesday evening. And they are providing structure protection for ranch houses within the fire perimeter, while assisting in protecting the communities of Muldoon, Bellevue, Carey, Triumph and Hailey.

A Great Basin National Incident Management Team 1 assumed command of the fire at 6 a.m. Tuesday, setting up headquarters inside Carey School.

By the time they put feet on the ground, the fire had already moved north into the Sawtooth National Forest.

Incident Commander Beth Lund is scheduled to provide an update at a community information meeting scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight—Wednesday, Aug. 1--at the Carey School.

Officials said they had 220 firefighters working the fire Tuesday night, up from 150 earlier. They spent Tuesday building fire lines to secure the south end of the fire. Fire lines were holding on the southwest portion of the fire and crews were working to improve fire lines around the southeast corner.

They were scouting the east flank to prepare to construct dozer lines.

They’re also using a C-130 large air tanker, which can hold up to 4,000 gallons of retardant, dropping six loads on the fire before refueling, and large air tankers BA 146 that can hold up to 3,000 gallons of retardant each load. It can drop two loads before refueling.

Brian Bean, who owns Lava Lake Lamb east of Carey, spent 48 hours rounding up his sheep and trucking them out of the area.

“I’m afraid we’re going to be next,” said Bean, acknowledging the devastation that the Flat Top Sheep Ranch had already incurred.

“It looks like a lunar landscape,” said Diane Peavey, who owns the Flat Top Sheep Ranch with her husband John.

The fast moving fire continued to be fueled by temperatures in the low 90s, low humidity and gusty winds.

The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday evening that it was conducting a criminal investigation into the cause, of the fire, which started on Idaho Department of Lands endowment land. A fire investigation team form the Idaho Department of Lands is assisting.

A fire investigator with the Twin Falls District BLM had already determined it was caused by someone shooting an explosive target, which is illegal on public lands.

“We have confirmed the fire to be human caused,” said Sheriff Steve Harkins. “We are committed to finding out the person or persons responsible for starting this fire.”

Anyone with information about how the fire started is asked to call a detective at the Blaine County Sheriff’s office at 208-788-5555.

Tuesday afternoon Quigley Road was closed at the mouth of the canyon where the pavement ends. Slaughterhouse Creek Road east of Bellevue was also closed where the pavement ends.

The Forest Service also closed Cove Creek Road in East Fork Canyon.

Roads already closed include Muldoon Canyon Road from the EE-DA-Ho Ranch east of Bellevue, the Little Wood Reservoir Road past the Reservoir, the High Five, Baugh Creek, Bay Horse and Hunt roads.

Mandatory evacuations are in place for those living along the Little Wood Reservoir Road and Flat Top Road. The Little Wood Recreation Area camp ground and High Five Recreation site are also closed to the public.

Those living along Fish Creek Road have been told to gather their valuables and be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

A fire information official said that a high pressure will continue to dominate the area with a slight chance of dry thunderstorms. Relative humidity will be between 10 and 17 percent with temperatures in the mid-80s to the mid-90s.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s air monitoring station in Ketchum reported an air quality index of 138 at 3 p.m. Tuesday. That’s considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, including those with lung disease, children and older adults. People are advised to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion under those conditions.