Fire crews were stepping up their attack Monday against wildfires that have destroyed dozens of homes and forced hundreds to flee in Western states.
Calmer weather on Sunday helped firefighters tighten their grip on the blazes, but dry, hot weather is expected in the days ahead.
A look at conditions:
WASHINGTON
More crews, including some from the Washington National Guard, are being mobilized in the battle Monday with several large fires threatening homes in the Chelan area in central Washington.
The blazes have destroyed more than 50 structures, forced about 1,500 residents to flee and scorched more than 155 square miles. Scores of homes remain threatened.
Fire incident spokesman Wayne Patterson says air tankers have established lines to keep the flames from reaching downtown Chelan, a popular resort town.
Helicopters have been dipping into Lake Chelan to pull up water to battle blazes north of the lake.
“There were literally people on the beaches near that lake in their swim wear out on the lake right near it,” Patterson told The Associated Press.
Improved weather helped firefighters Sunday, but hot temperatures and low humidity are expected this week.
OREGON
Higher humidity and lighter winds allowed crews to slow the spread of wildfires burning up eastern Oregon.
A lightning-sparked fire near John Day has grown to nearly 60 square miles and has destroyed at least 26 homes. Roughly 300 firefighters were assigned to the blaze over the weekend and more are expected.
South of Baker City, the improved weather helped firefighters make progress on the state’s largest wildfire. The blaze has charred almost 140 square miles and destroyed six homes.
Meanwhile, hundreds of evacuated residents on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation were allowed to return home Sunday as danger eased from the County Line 2 Fire. Containment of the 85-square mile blaze increased to 25 percent.
IDAHO
Wildfires have destroyed 42 homes and at least 79 outbuildings in northern Idaho near the town of Kamiah.
More than 700 firefighters on Monday along with 40 fire engines and four helicopters are fighting the blazes trying to protect homes but residents along an 11-mile section of U.S. Highway 12 have been told to be ready to flee.
The group of lightning-caused fires has scorched about 70 square miles of mainly forest and is 15 percent contained.
A 70-year-old woman was killed when she fell while preparing to flee from the wildfire, the Idaho County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday. Cheryl Lee Wissler of Adams Grade died Friday from a head injury she suffered when she fell, authorities said.
On the Idaho-Oregon border some 800 firefighters had a giant 443-square-mile wildfire 70 percent contained.
The week-old fire has scorched grassland needed for cattle and primary habitat for sage grouse, a bird under consideration for federal protections.
CALIFORNIA
A fire that has been burning for more than a week about 100 miles north of San Francisco has destroyed nine homes and charred more than 39 square miles
But firefighters are gaining ground against the wildfire with 85 percent containment reported Monday.
Fire officials say that over the weekend smoke from the fire drifted into the San Francisco Bay Area and especially east of the city, where it was trapped in valleys for several days, causing hazy skies and breathing difficulties for some.
The fire is the second of two blazes that have charred land near dry Lower Lake. The first one, which was contained Friday after more than two weeks, destroyed 43 homes.
In Southern California, crews working through the night stopped the spread of two Los Angeles County fires that burned several structures, charred hundreds of acres of dry brush and led to the arson arrest of one person.
A brush fire sparked near a riverbed in Montebello, a suburb east of downtown Los Angeles, halted operations at an oil field and prompted the evacuation of a park. The fire, which grew to about 200 acres, is 20 percent contained Monday.
Montebello authorities say a 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
To the north a wildfire that burned buildings at an abandoned rehabilitation center in rural Castaic has charred about 300 acres in Angeles National Forest. It is 10 percent contained.
Meanwhile, a 2-and-a-half-square-mile fire in the forest above the suburbs of Glendora and Azusa is 60 percent contained.
COLORADO
Lightning across northwestern Colorado is suspected of sparking about 30 fires over the weekend, keeping firefighters running from one blaze to another.
The largest of the wildfires is the Four Mile Fire, which is burning on just over 1,000 acres 20 miles north of Craig. It was 80 percent contained Monday.
Many of the smaller fires have been contained.
The Northwest Colorado Fire Management Unit says over 4,000 lightning strikes hit northwestern Colorado on Saturday and Sunday.