Wildfires burn across the West

The extreme fire conditions across the U.S. West have exploded, with several burning across the region as of Aug. 15, 2012, and about 70 homes destroyed in Washington state. In recent days, one firefighter died in Idaho after being struck by a falling tree. Another suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation after a blaze along the Nevada-Oregon border forced her to crawl into an emergency fire shelter. In this photo, a tree is engulfed in flames as a fire burns the grass ahead, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

In a rural part of Washington state, three separate fires were sparked in just 90 minutes. Firefighters put out two quickly, but the third left authorities scrambling to evacuate hundreds of residents. About 70 homes and hundreds of outbuildings had burned, officials said. In this photo, a man tosses dirt on a fire as he tries to save his home, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. The house did not burn.

Across California, thousands of firefighters were contending with dry conditions and strong winds. In the southern part of the state, residents of dozens of homes in sparsely populated inland areas evacuated as wildfires thrived in the desert heat. In this Aug. 13, 2012, photo, a California fire firefighter lays a hose line amid scorched brush and Joshua trees as crews worked to contain the Quail Fire near Keys View Road in the in Joshua Tree National Park.

A homeowner tries to hold back flames from his house with a shovel, Aug. 14, 2012, near Cle Elum, Wash.

Flames curl behind as a water truck keeps fire away from a house, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

A firefighter looks up at a helicopter dropping water, Aug. 14, 2012, on Highway 10 near Cle Elum, Wash.

Smoke rises in the distance as water trickles from an old faucet at a homestead destroyed by a wildfire near Cle Elum, Wash., on Aug. 14, 2012. No one had lived in the home for years, but dozens of homes were destroyed by the blaze.

A woman sits on the remains of a home that was destroyed in a wildfire the night before, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

A helicopter drops water taken from the adjacent Yakima River onto a wildfire, Aug. 14, 2012, on Highway 10 near Cle Elum, Wash.

Neighbors try to hold back flames from a house at left, Aug. 14, 2012, near Cle Elum, Wash.

A small plow moves ahead of flames, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

John Thometz monitors the progress of a wildfire on Aug. 14, 2012, near his Cle Elum, Wash. home.

The Cave Canyon Fire burns on a hill less than a mile from a home along 2900 North Road south of Hansen, Idaho, on Aug. 10, 2012.

A California Department of Forestry firefighter works on putting out a flare up along Highway 20 on the Wye Fire, near Clearlake Oaks, Calif., Aug. 13, 2012. Wildfires burn across the West, threatening hundreds of homes in California and killing a firefighter in Idaho.

AP Photo/The Idaho Statesman, Darin Oswald

Fire crews from multiple agencies contain the Ourada Ranch Fire in the foothills northeast of Hidden Springs above Cartwright Road in Boise, Idaho, Aug. 13, 2012. The fire burned 419 acres and threatened several homes and ranch properties.

Cattle rancher Bryan Brodin looks at the 419 acres that scorched the foothills north of Cartwright Road near Hidden Springs, Idaho, relieved that most of his cattle were higher up in the hills before fire crews contained the blaze on Aug. 13, 2012.

Rita Torre, 47, sits on the side of the road with her dog Puma after driving over a burning log evacuating her home and the Wye fire near Clearlake Oaks, Calif., Aug. 13, 2012.

Floyd Deadmond, who evacuated from his home at 1:30 a.m., watches smoke rise from the Cave Canyon Fire at Rock Creek General Store with his wife, Sherry, and neighbors LaJoy Nielsen and her husband, Garry, on Aug. 10, 2012 south of Hansen, Idaho.

As embers still smolder, family members sift through the remains of their home that was destroyed in a wildfire the night on Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

Neighbors use hand tools to try to hold back flames from nearby houses, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

Flames surround a house, Aug. 14, 2012, on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. Wildland firefighters on-site advised that the house survived the fire.

Neighbors use shovels to try to hold back flames from nearby houses, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

Men watch as fire roars across ranch land, Aug. 14, 2012, on Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.