ADA COUNTY, Idaho– A recent wildfire burning along Interstate 84 in western Idaho forced a couple to swerve off-road to avoid the flames and smoke.
The fire began on Saturday, about 8 miles southeast of Boise. Photographer Saylor Marie Gonzales told Storyful she and her partner were headed toward Boise from Denver when they encountered the fire.
Her video shows her and her partner gasping as they drive down I-84, with thick smoke and flames burning through a field just to the right of the road.
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Smoke and flames fill the road.
(Saylor Marie Gonzales via Storyful / FOX Weather)
“Oh, it’s hot in here,” Gonzales said, as they drove through the smoke.
As they continue their approach down the highway, bright orange flames peek up through the smoke, just off the edge of the road.
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Flames burn right off the road.
(Saylor Marie Gonzales via Storyful / FOX Weather)
“This is so scary,” Gonzales said.
“We’re going to have to pull off the road, love,” Gonzales’ partner said to her.
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Gonzales and her partner pull their car off the road as others do the same.
(FOX Weather)
Cars in front of them veer left into the median between both directions of I-84 as the smoke and fire impeded their travel forward.
“Go, go, go,” Gonzales urged the driver ahead, as they followed suit and drove through the grass.
Their car bounced around on the uneven ground as multiple cars rushed through the grass away from the fire.
Gonzales screamed as their vehicle ran over something on the journey to get to the other side of the highway.
Gonzales and her partner drove the car off the highway to avoid the fire.
(Saylor Marie Gonzales via Storyful / FOX Weather)
“We gotta go, we gotta go,” Gonzales’ partner said.
They finally reached the other direction of the highway, and sped away from the flames with other vehicles.
“Those people are stuck, honey,” Gonzales said to her partner as the video ended.
Gonzales told Storyful some cars panicked, others crashed and many drove through the median with them.
“Very blessed to be safe and sound. Love and light to all involved,” Gonzalez told Storyful.
The Bureau of Land Management Idaho Fire Program reported the fire was fully controlled by Monday.
In total, the burned nearly 9,000 acres and forced evacuations, which have since been lifted.
One outbuilding was destroyed in the fire.
