Employees Evacuated as Sheep Fire Grows to 85,000 Acres

Employees have been evacuated at the Idaho National Laboratory site as the "Sheep Fire" grows to 85,000 acres. 

According to an article on KTVB that gives details on the fire, the blaze started Monday evening from a lightning strike in Idaho Falls south of HWY 33 and north of HWY 20.

The fire has exploded in size since this morning when it was burning about 6,500 acres. Now the blaze has consumed 85,000 acres just a few hours later and it's continuing to move quickly.

Smoke blowing across the highway is causing visibility issues, so you are being asked to avoid driving in that area until first responders get a handle on it.

As far as the evacuations, all non-essential employees have been evacuated from multiple facilities, including the Central Facilities Area, Advanced Test Reactor Complex, EBR-1, Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, and Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center.

Luckily, no structures are currently at risk and experts say the fire seems to be pushing towards the center of the site where there are not any buildings.

No word yet on when this fire will be contained, but in the meantime, please pray for all of the firefighters and those working in this area that everyone remains safe and that crews will be able to get this fire under control as soon as possible.