Fire crews gradually getting a handle on Western wildfires

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Firefighters in the Western states were making progress on wildfire blazes Saturday, though hot weather and frequent lightning strikes continued to pose a threat.

"It seems like things are stabilizing," said Janelle Smith, of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. "There are a lot of new lightning strikes but we are getting to them as best we can."

A week's worth of effort paid off Saturday, as firefighters approached containment on the largest fires. Crews then did a largely successful job of concentrating their efforts on new and remaining fires.

Nineteen large fires were burning in California, Nevada, Oregon and Texas, though nine were expected to be contained Sunday. Over 200,000 acres had been consumed.

More than half of the fires were in Northern California, drawing more than 7,000 firefighters. The fires took up most of the state's firefighting budget only two months into the fiscal year.

Nevada's biggest blaze, 45 miles north of Reno, blackened 40,000 acres. Full containment was expected by Sunday.

A fire near Oregon's Sheldon-Hart National Wildlife Refuge charred 30,000 acres and was expected to be contained by Saturday.

Texas National Guard helicopters were called out to battle a 1,700-acre fire west of Lampasas.

A 600-acre blaze near Okanogan, Wash., was completely contained Friday.

Northern California's weekend weather was expected to be hot, but tempered by lower winds. Montana, eastern Idaho and Wyoming were to see some scattered thunderstorms. That would mean dangerous lightning but also rain.

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