Weather Slows Oregon Wildfire
Changing weather Monday assisted crews battling a 17,000-acre wildfire that destroyed at least 17 homes in central Oregon's rugged high desert, and officials said the blaze could be contained by the end of the week.
"We made significant advances yesterday. We expect to continue those today," said Rock Gerke, deputy incident commander.
A force of 1,000 firefighters had been deployed against the flames.
"They've had higher humidity and lower temps so that's helping them out. It's still a concern though," said Jeree Mills, a spokeswoman for the Northwest Fire Coordination Center.
Mills said 17 homes in the Three Rivers subdivision about 10 miles west of Madras had been destroyed, but officials at the fire camp said 18 homes were destroyed.
The blaze also burned 19 other buildings and three travel trailers in the community of retirement and vacation homes, Mills said.
On Sunday, the blaze slowed enough to allow officials to escort residents on a tour to see the twisted sheet metal, charred furniture and melted glass left of the destroyed homes.
"By the time it got to our place, it was pretty well gone," said Merritt Williams, a retired engineer with a five-acre lot on the subdivision. His house was burned to ash but a shop was left standing.
Firefighters fought the blaze house to house and managed to save most buildings in the 200-home development, said David Widmark, a fire center spokesman. Crews poured water and fire retardant on the homes and cleared away brush and trees.
An evacuation order remained in effect for Three Rivers and 80 homes in the nearby Forest Park and Chinook Village developments.
The wildfire, started by lightning early last week, was one of several in the West:
In northwestern Arizona, rain and cloud cover Monday were expected to help crews fighting a fire that charred 600 acres of dry brush and trees, prompting about 50 people to flee a community near Kingman, officials said. The lightning-caused fire burned to within a mile of the mountain subdivision of Pine Lake before changing directions, Bureau of Land Management fire information officer Bob Hall said.
At least 25 homes in southwestern Colorado were evacuated Sunday and firefighters had to move their helicopter base when a wind-whipped wildfire expanded.
The blaze, about 200 miles southwest of Denver, had covered about 15,000 acres by late Sunday and officials said it was no more than 10 percent contained.
A Wyoming fire in Yellowstone National Park had grown to 9,000 acres before rain and hail slowed its advance. Several trails and campsites were closed in the area of the fire, located about 10 miles northeast of Canyon Village, but major tourist attractions in the park remained open Monday.
A Nevada wildfire started by lightning on Thursday spread into Utah on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of homes and threatening an old mining camp designated as a state historical landmark. The 3,500-acre blaze was burning about 220 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It was unclear how many homes were evacuated.
In California, a fire exploded to 6,000 acres Sunday just south of Topaz Lake, on the Nevada line some 25 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe. About 150 people were urged to evacuate a campground.