Briefs July 4, 2010

W Idaho fireworks blast injures 3 firefighters

MOUNTAIN HOME - Three firefighters have been injured and a Fourth of July fireworks show is canceled after a fireworks display exploded Saturday while being set up at a southwestern Idaho golf course.Mountain Home Mayor Tom Rist said two firefighters were treated and released and a third remained hospitalized in stable condition.

Golf pro Rob Ellis of Desert Canyon Golf Course said many golfers were on the course when the explosion occurred about 1 p.m. but none were injured, and that golfers have returned to the course.Rist sayid firefighters told him static electricity might have caused the fireworks to ignite, destroying about 80 percent of the planned display.

Feds opt for gates to protect southwest Idaho dam

CALDWELL - The Bureau of Reclamation said it won't permanently close a road across a dam in southwestern Idaho but instead will put up portable gates if there is a terrorist threat.

The federal agency has been considering ways to protect Lower Deer Flat Dam from a potential attack using Riverside Road as a way to destroy the dam that backs up more than 150,000 acre-feet in Lake Lowell.An acre-foot is enough to cover an acre with one foot of water, and officials say if the dam were breached the water would flood out 35,000 people living downstream.

But locals in the area protested a plan to close Riverside Road, often used as a shortcut.In a letter late last month federal officials said the road will remain open with portable gates put up if a terrorist threat develops.

- The Associated Press