Massive fire near nuclear lab under control
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By Benjamin R. Bombard
A wildfire that burned 109,000 acres near the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls was declared controlled on Monday after firefighters strengthened a fire line around the perimeter of the burn to prevent flare-ups from spreading any further.
The fire began on July 9, and burned over a broad sagebrush plain, sending up huge plumes of smoke. No facilities were directly damaged by the fire, but downed power lines shut off electricity to a dozen buildings in the INL’s Material and Fuels Complex. Employees who normally work in that complex instead worked remotely for much of last week. Power was restored to all but two of the buildings over the weekend and everybody was back to work on Monday.
Two fire crews will continue to monitor the fire. The INL’s Emergency Operations Center stood down on Thursday when INL Fire Chief Eric Gosswiller declared the fire contained.
The official cause of the wildfire is still being investigated and may not be known for several weeks.
courtesy IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORYIdaho wildfire containedPERMALINK:
Massive fire near nuclear lab under control | Planet JH News Article: General Environment
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