Fire crews hoped for small breaks from the weather to help fight blazes fueled by high temperatures, tinder-dry conditions and gusty winds across the Western region of the U.S.
A Hot Springs, South Dakota, wildfire that killed a man and left more than 30 families homeless spread somewhat to the southwest of the tourist town Monday, but fire officials expected to gain on it in the next day or so.
"My best guess is that we'll make some good ground on the fire," said Joe Lowe, state wildland fire suppression coordinator.
He told night-shift firefighters to be on their toes, however, for a cold front that was expected to sweep through the area overnight. The weather change could bring winds that easily might fan the flames, Lowe said.
Light rain early Monday helped calm the blaze, and Lowe was gaining confidence near day's end that the fire could be encircled. Some firefighters were preparing to return to their homes, but Lowe said that would depend on Monday night's progress.
The lightning-sparked fire had spread through a 14-square-mile (36-square-kilometer) area of Fall River County by late Monday.
Other fires blackened the landscape in California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Montana and Oregon, many of them also started by lightning and fueled by the dry conditions, made worse by a heat wave that sizzled across the West last week.
In addition to the death in South Dakota, smoke from a major Utah fire was blamed for two deaths in a weekend motorcycle accident, and another blaze still active in Utah killed three people on June 29.
Wildfires kept Kitt Peak National Observatory in southern Arizona closed Monday, and three small communities in the northern part of the state remained under evacuation orders as gusty winds and hot weather hampered firefighters' efforts.
At least nine fires larger than 100 acres (40 hectares) were burning across the state, although most were in remote areas and not affecting people.
A fire, caused Friday evening by lightning strikes, grew from 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) to 5,755 acres (2,329 hectares) Monday, said Jonetta Holt, a public information officer for the fire team battling the fire.
Crews in California's eastern Sierra Nevada gained ground against a fire that had charred at least 37,000 acres (14,974 hectares), or 58 square miles (150 square kilometers), in the Inyo National Forest.
That fire was 55 percent contained Monday after cooler temperatures and lighter wind allowed firefighters to make their first real progress, forestry officials said. Full containment was expected by Wednesday.
But a 12-square-mile (31 square kilometer) wildfire burning in the Los Padres National Forest in southern California had expanded into dry brush and steep hills of the nearby San Rafael Wilderness Area, Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Eli Iskow said Monday.
"It's burning in areas that haven't even burned in recorded history," Iskow said. "The fuels are at historic lows in moisture, and now it's burning uphill. It's a formula that makes it very difficult to put out."
The fire threatened a historic wooden schoolhouse and two ranches, Iskow said.
What is said to be the biggest wildfire in Utah history had charged across more than 300,000 acres (121,400 hectares), or 468 square miles (1,212 square kilometers), of extremely dry sagebrush, cheat grass and pinion juniper in the central part of the state.
Firefighters won a small victory over that fire Monday, getting the blaze 10 percent contained thanks to low winds and increased resources. Fire managers expect to add another 10 crews to the firefighting effort, which had been hampered by gusty winds.
Forecasts for rising winds and temperatures that could fan the flames again continue to be a concern. Temperatures are expected to climb into the 90s Fahrenheit (above 32 degrees Celsius) and into triple digits in some parts of eastern Washington through the week, said Chuck Gulick, a spokesman for fire command headquarters.
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Associated Press writers Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco, Raquel Maria Dillon and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Jennifer Dobner in Salt Lake City, Martin Griffith in Reno, Nev., Moises D. Mendoza in Phoenix and Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.
Source: AP Features
