Whipped by wind, a wildfire of unknown origin raced up a ridge, destroyed 10 houses and damaged nine others Monday night in Southeast Boise, authorities said. Stunned homeowners turned on sprinklers, rescued pets and pictures and fled.

"It's a nightmare," said Chris Taylor, who evacuated her home on Immigrant Pass Drive.

But it could have been worse. Firefighters and residents attacked the blaze with water and brush-clearing equipment, stopping its advance before even more homes could burn.

The fire drew immediate comparisons to the 1996 8th Street fire, which burned nearly 15,000 acres and prompted the closure of part of the 37-mile Ridge to Rivers Trail system. That fire destroyed six bridges along Lower Hulls Gulch.

Monday's blaze began in a field of U.S. Bureau of Land Management land just south of East Amity Road north of East Sweetwater Drive shortly before 7 p.m.

As winds from a cold front gusted to more than 40 mph, the fire moved uphill to the south, toward Sweetwater Drive in the Oregon Trail Heights subdivision, where the first house caught fire at 7:10 p.m. The blaze quickly spread to a second house. Homes on both sides of Sweetwater burned. So did homes on Immigrant Pass Court, police said.

Meanwhile, a second line of fire moved east. A line of fire branched off the second line too, moving up the hill farther east, burning more houses.

The eastbound fire line approached the Homestead Rim subdivision, where residents using equipment blocked the fire's advance before firefighters arrived.

The fire moved from a wildland area to trees to arborvitae shrubs in people's yards, and then to soffits on their houses. Many homes had cedar-shake roofs that caught fire quickly.

"This was the perfect storm," Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan said. "We had high winds, high heat and shake roofs. It was jumping from roof to roof."

About 50 homes were evacuated, fire officials said. Witnesses reported hearing several explosions, possibly from ammunition and propane tanks in burning homes. Thick, black smoke obliterated views.

Taylor was at work when her son, a senior at Timberline High School, called about 7 p.m. and said, "Mom, the side of the ridge is on fire." He called back about 15 minutes later to say, "'We have to evacuate,'" Taylor said.

The Taylors were able to save photo albums, computers and their two dogs and cat. When their shake roof caught fire, Walt Taylor jumped up with a hose and wet it down shortly before firefighters arrived and took over.

"Wow. Crazy," he said. "Two houses behind ours just went up."

The Taylors didn't think their home was destroyed. They planned to spend the night at a friend's house and wait until morning to see the damage.

To the east, residents of the Homestead Rim subdivision acted fast when they saw the fire coming.

They got out equipment, including a brush hog - a mower that attaches to a tractor - and began clearing brush along the wooden fences that line the neighborhood.

When the fire advanced, they retreated, waited until the blaze calmed, and then tackled the fire again.

Brian McManus, a Homestead Rim resident who works at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, credited his neighbors with saving the subdivision. "They got that line in just in time," he said.

Firefighters then came and began cutting a larger line. Trey Glineski, who works for the BLM, drove a bulldozer and took out a wide swath of brush. "The guy went right through that fire with that thing," said Bruce Fast, a Homestead Rim resident.

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