STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

High winds and potential lightning storms are expected to keep wildland firefighters on their toes the next few days.

The Bureau of Land Management found itself fighting three new fires near Shoshone on Tuesday.

• The Lava Fire has burned 800 acres of grass and brush. The lightning-sparked fire is burning three miles northeast of Shoshone and led to Highway 75 being shut down for a short time Tuesday morning. it was reopened by 11 a.m. time on Tuesday.
• The lightning-caused Notch Butte Fire south of Shoshone has burned 2,000 acres of grassland a half-mile east of Notch Butte. Crews hope to have it controlled by noon today.
• And the Waters Fire burning seven miles northwest of Richfield has burned 250 acres.

  The biggest in southern Idaho, however is the Sheep Fire, which has grown to more than 90,000 acres near the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls. The fire was started by lightning on Monday night and has been sending smoke across highways 20 and 26.

  All non-essential employees were evacuated from INL facilities as a precaution on Tuesday.

• The Vader Fire 14 miles northwest of Stanley continues to burn in lodgepole pine. Highway 21 was open on Tuesday but drivers are urged to drive cautiously as firefighters are working near the road. The cause of the 436-acre fire, which is 10 percent contained. remains under investigation.
• The lightning-caused Canyon Fire southeast of Bull Trout Campground has burned 324 acres and was 32 percent contained by Tuesday afternoon.
• The lightning-caused Shady Fire two miles east of Seafoam Guard Station was reported July 10 and has so far burned 1,382 acres. It has burned into the 2012 Halstead fire burn on the southwest edge.

It is being allowed to burn because of heavy fuels in the area and numerous snags.

The BLM’s Twin Falls fire management crew is also fighting an 11,300-acre Hot Springs Fire 25 miles north of Murphy Hot Springs near the Jarbidge River and Bruneau Canyon.

It is also fighting the Fossil Fire near Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.

DID YOU KNOW?

NASA is in Idaho right now, not to prepare for another trip to the moon or even Mars but to study the smoke from Idaho wildfires.

Scientists from NASA and NNOAA will fly two aircraft over Idaho wildfires to study how the wind effects and is affected by wildfires. They also will study how wildfire affects climates and people's personal health, noting that smoke from wildfires in the American West can sometimes trail around the globe to Europe.