Badly Burned Body Found in Home Destroyed by Boise Wildfire

BOISE, Idaho – A badly burned body was found early Tuesday in one of the homes destroyed by a wind-whipped wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than 100 residents.

The body was discovered by firefighters in one of the nine homes in a Boise neighborhood destroyed in the blaze, police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said. Police on Monday said 10 homes had been destroyed, but revised those figures Tuesday to nine homes destroyed and 10 homes damaged.

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Hightower said it was too soon to determine whether the body was that of a woman reported missing by relatives as the fire spread from a vacant field of sagebrush up a ridge to the line of homes.

No other residents were injured, but 17 police officers and at least one firefighter were treated at local hospitals for smoke inhalation and other injuries.

Hightower says the fire was under control early Tuesday and residents from the more than 50 homes that had been evacuated Monday night were allowed to return. Many evacuees spent the night at a nearby church or elementary school.

Cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The blaze was reported about 7 p.m. Monday in the vacant field and spread rapidly as winds gusted to 50 mph.

"This has been the most devastating fire we've seen in recent memory," Fire Chief Dennis Doan said.

Meanwhile, a wildfire burning between Cody, Wyo., and Yellowstone National Park, has forced the evacuation of a guest ranch.

Debbie Millard, one of the owners of the Elephant Head Lodge, said all 15 guests had left the lodge.

The fire, about 40 miles west of Cody and 15 miles east of Yellowstone, was sparked by lightning July 26 and has burned nearly 87 square miles, fire information officer Sarah Gallup said Tuesday. It is now about a half-mile from the lodge.

Gallup said 250 firefighters are working to protect buildings and other structures in the area. She said the fire will likely continue to burn until snowfall.

In its first two weeks, the fire burned some unused, unoccupied Forest Service cabins.