Numerous wildfires throughout the West

Officials made the announcement Monday, saying the troops would spend a few days training this week before they are sent to a wildfire.

About 200 U.S. soldiers have been called in to reinforce civilian firefighters battling nearly 90 blazes that have blackened more than 1 million acres (400,000 hectares) across the country’s arid West. The mobilization was the first of its kind since 2006.

More than 100 homes have been destroyed since Friday in Washington state, Idaho and Oregon, authorities said.

More than 1,000 people are battling the massive fires near Chelan that have burned more than 170 square miles and destroyed an estimated 75 buildings. It’s threatening 12 homes.

“The weather has become more violent”, said Soderstrom, whose home burned in the recent fires. Matt Eagen, sprays water on burning wood on a hillside as he fights the First Creek Fire, Tuesday, August 18, 2015, near Chelan, Wash.

“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.

As wildfires along the west coast of the United States continue to burn, fire-fighting resources are quickly being depleted and new evacuations were spurred Wednesday.

In Oregon, a lightning-sparked blaze in the Malheur National Forest has destroyed at least 26 homes.

Over the same period last year, there were 3,047 fires that burned 87,988 acres.

In northern Idaho, more than 40 homes have been lost near the town of Kamiah.

“It’s hard to protect the home if the fire’s running towards it”, he said. It was 35 percent contained Monday.

She said they would rebuild.

Wildfires have forced new evacuations in Oregon and California since Sunday.

The week-old fire has scorched grassland that is needed for cattle and is primary habitat for sage grouse, a bird under consideration for federal protections.

The Chelan fires are about 30 percent contained, Lawatch said.

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. Six helicopters and two airplanes are helping fight the fire from the air.

In central Oregon, fires led to the brief closure of a highway between Mount Hood and Portland as well as the shuttering and evacuation of 500 employees and guests from the nearby Kah-Nee-Tah resort.

The help can be crucial in particularly active years such as this one, when the center’s firefighting teams and equipment are fighting hundreds of fires across many states.

The largest of the wildfires was burning on more than 1,000 acres 20 miles north of Craig. It is 31 percent contained.

There are around 1000 people working to contain the blaze, despite a tremendous strain on the fire system. But the lack of resources means fire managers are having to change the way they attack fires.

The Fisher Fire, burning seven miles north of Craigmont in a steep area of Big Canyon, was started by lightning on Wednesday.