The Plex Fire spread to 350 acres overnight into Thursday morning, leading law enforcement to advise some Boise-area residents to evacuate their homes.
It was the largest fire seen in the Boise area this wildfire season.
The brush fire started at about 6 p.m. Wednesday near South Eyele Avenue and East Plexi Court. By 11 p.m., fire personnel had contained the vast majority of it, Jared Jablonski, mitigation education specialist with the Bureau of Land Management’s Boise bureau, told the Idaho Statesman.
Larry and Kinuyo Camp, who live in Southeast Boise, thought they could rest easy, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.
Then, a wind change caused the fire to spread, burning 350 acres.
The Camps woke up to the blue lights of emergency vehicles and the sight of a growing blaze.
“We went to bed thinking, ‘OK, we should be fine,’ ” Larry Camp told the Statesman by phone. “And then we wake up and the world’s on fire.”
While no mandatory evacuations were ordered, some families in the area, including the Camps, were advised by Ada County Sheriff’s Office deputies that it could be good to evacuate. The Bureau of Land Management was able to contain the fire by 3:40 p.m. Thursday and hoped to have it controlled by Saturday. Idaho 21 reopened in the area.
The Camp family was able to return to their home Thursday evening. But their power was out, they said. Idaho Power’s outage map showed electricity to the area went out at 5:44 p.m. Idaho Power expects it to be restored by 7 p.m.
Photos taken by the Idaho Statesman and the Boise Fire Department show the size and scope of the wildfire.
