Firefighters have set up sprinkler systems on homes in a central Idaho town and also plan to start two simultaneous burnouts Thursday to stop a 78-square-mile wildfire from coming down a creek drainage that funnels into the community.
Winds switching to coming out of the northwest prompted fire managers to make the call for the double-burnout operation to protect the town of Lowman from the wildfire that's about 2 miles away.
Fire spokeswoman Jennifer Myslivy says the burnout operation is expected to start Thursday afternoon and could take several days.
Nearly 1,500 firefighters are battling the blaze burning timber in rugged terrain.
Myslivy says no evacuations have been ordered but the county sheriff has told residents to be alert.
