By BUDDY SMITH Staff Reporter

A thunder storm that followed a third day of searing heat late Saturday brought a dazzling display of lightning and gusty winds, and left four small wildfires burning in the forest.

The largest was the Lard Fire, burning about 8 acres 1.5 miles east of Lost Trail Pass in the Bitterroot National Forest as of Sunday. A Forest Service lookout at Sula Peak spotted the fire and 20 firefighters from the Bureau of Indian Affairs were dispatched to the fire Sunday after crews began initial attack Saturday.

A 20-person fire crew was working the Bear Cone fire on the southwest side of Bear Cone lookout and 10 miles up the Nez Perce Road.

Also on Sunday, fire crews were mopping up the Rombo and Took Ridge fires up the West Fork. Both fires burned one-tenth of an acre. Firefighters were dispatched to both blazes. Forest officials said late Saturday they received numerous other phone calls reporting smoke but no other fires had been confirmed. Lightning from the thunderstorm also kept area rural fire crews busy with fire calls.

Meanwhile, Bitterroot officials have decided not to let a small Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness fire continue to burn southeast of Darby.

They said the decision to snuff the Little Clearwater fire follows a recent directive from U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth to curtail costs to help pay for fire suppression and an analysis of costs associated with the long-term management of the blaze.

It had been allowed to burn as a "resource benefit" fire, meaning officials were monitoring the fire and letting it run its natural course deep in the wilderness. Bosworth cited an unprecedented fire year because of the intensity of forest fires nationally and the season's early start.

Officials said Friday the quarter-acre fire was burning about five miles northwest of the Magruder Ranger Station. A fire lookout Wednesday spotted the lighting-caused blaze after a thunder storm.

"This does not mean we will curtail all future opportunities to allow fire to play a role in shaping wilderness characteristics," said forest fire management officer Jack Kirkendall in a press release.