Blaze burns homes, forces evacuations in upscale Idaho area

KREM reported Monday that at least six homes had burned and residents near the small community of Bayview were told to evacuate.

It is among dozens of large blazes burning out of control across the drought-stricken US West, where federal fire managers say almost three times as many acres have burned so far this year as in the same period last year, the National Fire Information Center said.

The 2,000-acre Cape Horn fire burning on the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille remained uncontained on Tuesday, July 7-the second day of the blaze.

A high school will serve as an emergency shelter for the area, which is made up of a mix of year-round residences and seasonal homes.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter declared a Disaster Emergency for both Bonner and Kootenai counties on Monday, enabling the use of federal funds to help battle the fire. The flames have destroyed other buildings such as boat houses and pump houses in the Bayview area that includes expensive homes, especially next to the water.

About 100 firefighters dealing with steep terrain have put in a fire line between the blaze and homes to protect the properties, Lyon said.

A US Navy boat was dousing some homes.

“We have a good idea of where it started”, he said. Those are the same conditions as on Sunday when the fire grew, Lyon said.

Smoke from fires in Canada were blanketing skies in Vancouver, British Columbia, with smoke and haze that was also affecting Washington state communities including Port Angeles.

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