The Sheep Fire, which burned more than 112,000 acres, is the largest blaze ever at the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.
It eclipsed the old record set by the Jefferson Fire, which in 2010 burned almost 109,000 acres, including 79,000 acres within the INL property, according to laboratory spokeswoman Sarah Neumann.
Fortunately, no buildings or structures burned at INL last week, Neumann said. The fire burned grassland and sagebrush on the desert areas within the INL property. “There were a number of power poles that were destroyed,” she said in an email. Crews from Rocky Mountain Power and INL are working to replace the damaged electric facilities.
A lightning strike ignited the fire early last week near Sheep Road on the 890-square mile Idaho National Laboratory property. All site employees returned to work on Thursday, July 25, after many were told to stay home the prior two days.
About 2,000 employees of Battelle Energy Alliance, the INL manager, were sent home, Neumann said. She did not have figures for Fluor Idaho or Naval Reactors Facility employees. Overall, there are about 6,000 government and contractor personnel at INL.
The fire was completely extinguished, with no remaining hot spots, by 6 p.m. local time Sunday, Neumann said.
Wildfires are not uncommon in the arid country around INL. More than 295,000 acres burned on INL property between 1994 and 2017, according to statistics shared by Neumann.
Nuclear facilities inside INL are typically equipped with security fences and fire breaks, emergency officials said during one of several press briefings last week.
