No, Boise Isn’t on Fire—Yes, That Massive Smoke Plume Is Back

It's as predictable as death, taxes and Christmas: a local Facebook post that says 'What's the smoke coming from the airport!?'

Then the Facebook post goes crazy--with thousands of comments that are a mixed bag of 'following' or those mocking the all-too-regular question.

Yes, it's back this week. No, we aren't on fire Boise.

Here's a closer look at Boise's 'what's that smoke' drama that has once again returned:

Have you ever seen that black plume of smoke coming from the airport? 

It can certainly look scary from afar--and with everything going on in the world, it isn't tough to see why some may panic or wonder. Just remember, however, there's nothing to fear--it's beneficial training for our first responders.

As the Boise Fire Department shared on Facebook today:

A heads up if you see smoke near the Boise Airport this week it’s most likely coming from our airport firefighting training area. Our Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) team is doing live fire training for different airport emergencies today (4/2), tomorrow (4/3), and Saturday (4/5). This type of training is required each year by the FAA, and provides realistic aircraft training opportunities for our firefighters stationed at the Boise Airport.

While this fire training may be 'fun and games' with folks online--there's nothing fun about the fires that Boise saw late last summer when dozens of homes were threatened in the Boise foothills. Take a look back at the fire crews that were in action battling these flames with HUGE planes overhead.