Crews battle ever increasing wildfires across western USA
Pastor Dale Morgan
Crews battle ever increasing wildfires across western USA*
Updated 9/6/2006 11:52 AM ET
BIG TIMBER, Mont. (AP) — Heavy smoke has slowed firefighters battling a
280-square-mile wildfire and also prompted air-quality warnings for much
of western Montana.
Firefighters are also battling blazes in parts of Washington, Oregon,
California, Nevada and Minnesota.
In Montana, a small fleet of helicopters and airplanes, which has been
dumping tens of thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant each
day, was briefly pulled off the fire Tuesday because officials were
concerned about flying in low visibility, said fire information officer
David Daniels.
"We're in an inversion, and the smoke is incredibly thick," Daniels said.
The firefighting aircraft were back on duty by late afternoon. For the
first time since the fire began two weeks ago, the blaze had not grown
significantly in the past 24 hours, which Daniels credited to
"outstanding work" by fire crews.
The state Department of Environmental Quality said air quality in
Bozeman and in the fire area was "very unhealthy." Some high school
sports teams and gym classes were called off or brought indoors.
The estimated range of the fire, which has destroyed 26 homes and 20
other buildings, remained at 180,000 acres, or more than 280 square
miles. The lightning-sparked blaze had been spreading mostly to the east
and the north before a wind shift last week sent firefighters and
equipment scrambling back to the fire's western edge.
About 265 homes were evacuated Sunday night on the western flank,
although Daniels said firefighters appeared to have prevented any homes
from being damaged.
About 840 people who were evacuated from homes earlier along the eastern
edge of the fire were allowed to return late Monday, but most of those
evacuated along the western edge were not yet being allowed to come
back, fire officials said.
More than 3,300 firefighters were assigned to Washington state's 10
largest fires, which have blackened nearly 468 square miles.
Washington's largest burn, northeast of Winthrop, had covered more than
161,000 acres, or about 251 square miles, and was 56% contained.
Firefighters responded to more than a dozen small fires Tuesday
following weekend storms in which the state was zapped by more than 80
lightning strikes. Lightning also was blamed for new fires to the south
in Oregon.
Because of the fire threat, outdoor burning has been banned around Seattle.
The fire near Winthrop was within a mile of the Canadian border, and a
separate, 32,000-acre fire had already crossed the border into British
Columbia, about 125 miles east of Vancouver. An evacuation alert was
issued to an undetermined number of residents "to get people ready ...
in case they do have to leave on short notice," said Mary Ann Leach of
the Kamloops Fire Center in British Columbia.
Elsewhere, Nevada fire officials were hampered by a lack of resources in
their battle against a new round of wildfires that had blackened more
than 117,000 acres, or 183 square miles, of rangeland in the northeast
part of the state. Dry lightning touched off up to two dozen new blazes
Sunday and Monday across the region, fire information officer June
McMillen said from Elko.
In Southern California, a wildfire spread across 1,640 acres of brush in
steep, rugged terrain in the Los Padres National Forest on Tuesday
night, a day after prompting hundreds of campers and fishermen to
evacuate a nearby recreation area. No homes or other structures were
threatened. About 470 firefighters were working the blaze, flanked by
three air tankers and four helicopters, according to forest spokesman
Bruce Emmens.
In Minnesota, firefighters battled an 80-acre wildfire for more than
five hours Tuesday, using water bombers, engines and brush trucks to
keep flames away from nearby homes in West Eveleth. Mountain Iron Fire
Chief Tom Cvar said the cause of the blaze hadn't been determined. No
injuries were reported.