FORT HALL — Abnormally dry conditions contributed to a small wildfire on Monday morning, ignited by a vehicle that was burning along Arbon Valley Highway within the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, officials said.

The fire burned 19 acres of grass and sage brush on both sides of the road before it was contained, according to a Tribal press release.

The Fort Hall Fire Department and emergency medical services responded to the scene. The American Falls Fire Department and Tribal Wildland Firefighters also assisted.

Nobody was injured and no homes were threatened.

Fort Hall Fire Chief Eric King said current fire conditions in the area are more typical of May or early June than mid winter due to a lack of recent precipitation.

“I urge Fort Hall residents to be safe when burning,” King said. “If residents are burning yard waste or creating a recreational fire, make sure you are following fire safety guidelines.”

Kelsee Griffee, a Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman, concurred that Southeast Idaho has been abnormally dry.

“With the kind of back and forth where they had snow and then it melts, there is grass exposed and it’s dead and dry, so it can ignite,” Griffee said. “The potential is there.”

Mike Huston, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the 10-hour fuel moisture level — a measurement of the moisture content in fuels the size of sagebrush or bigger — is usually 2 to 4 percent during the height of summer. Currently, the 10-hour moisture level is about 7 percent in the valley from Burley east to Pocatello, which he said is extremely low for this time of year.

Huston said the area’s lowlands haven’t received enough snow to pack down grasses into a mat, and standing dormant grasses burn more readily. Nonetheless, he believes cool temperatures will minimize the fire risk.