Crews boost control over central California fire

The blaze, about the size of San Francisco, has also scared away tourists who are cancelling bookings after fire officials warned that crews will likely be battling a wildfire raging in steep, forested ridges just to the north for another month. “They don’t know if it was intentionally set or not, that part is still ongoing”. Residents of about 75 homes that had been evacuated last week were allowed to return.

The blaze has scorched about 273 square miles of brush and grass since it started Saturday on the U.S. Army’s Yakima Training Center.

Firefighters have gained 50 percent containment of the fire that has burned about 22 square miles on private land and in Shoshone National Forest.

Wildfires are raging in several Western states, with some fueled by wind and dry conditions.

A firefighter was treated for cuts at a Reno hospital Tuesday, but no other injuries were reported.

In southwest Wyoming, a fire that has burned about 2 square miles near the Utah border is now 36 percent contained. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning through 10 p.m. for hot, dry conditions, with winds forecast to gust up to 35 miles per hour Tuesday night north of U.S. Interstate 80.

Investigators determined that an unattended campfire started the blaze on July 22 in a day-use area of Garapata Park.

Officials want the public’s help to find whoever started the flames that blew up to more than 71 square miles and destroyed 57 homes.

A bulldozer operator was killed on the fire lines during a rollover accident.

Evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes northwest of Dubois as progress was made against a wildfire. It was the second wildfire-related death in California in a week, another person having been found dead in his auto in the path of the Sand Fire in Los Angeles County.

Hundreds of additional homes are being evacuated or placed under alert as strong winds threaten to spread a Montana wildfire that’s already destroyed at least 14 homes.

Fire information officer Mike Cole said the blaze in the Bitterroot National Forest had burned almost 7 square miles by early Tuesday.

About 630 homes remain evacuated.

The fire’s cause and point of origin remain under investigation.

Federal officials mobilized two U.S. Department of Defense retardant-dropping aircraft to help fight wildfires in the West.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise said the C-130s will go into action on Wednesday and initially be based in Boise.

Residents were allowed back into the burned area Monday, but it was closed again Tuesday due to expected high winds and low humidity.

Sheriff’s Office said the Grant County International Airport terminal will be open to fire evacuees. Authorities say some fences were damaged, but no homes have been lost.

Another, farther north near Poodle Mountain, is 80 percent contained.

The warning came as 5,500 firefighters battled a wildfire near the Big Sur coast, a well-known tourist destination.

Officials say more than 5,400 firefighters from across California are fighting the fire in steep terrain that is considered some of the most extreme in the United States. Full containment is not expected until August 31.

More than 1,400 firefighters were battling a blaze in rugged terrain in southwest Idaho that grew to 66 square miles and has destroyed a popular, state-operated backcountry yurt. It’s not expected to be fully contained until mid-September.

Pyramid Lake is about 40 miles north of Reno.

Officials predicted humidity in the single-digits in the Virginia Mountains with wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour. Residents of the rural area surrounded by rolling hills told reporters they scrambled to evacuate with their animals as the wind-driven blaze swept through dry slopes. The lake is closed. On Tuesday evening, the so-called Goose Fire was listed as 60 percent contained.

Recent maps put it at 10.25 square miles, up from about 8 square miles, in a wilderness study area about 20 miles northwest of Gerlach.

The blaze has destroyed three homes and is threatening another 400 northeast of Fresno as it heads into its second week.

Authorities said firefighters increased containment to 60 per cent.

The blaze has charred more than 6 square miles since igniting Tuesday afternoon.