Wildfires

Montana wildfires reaching historic proportions

Richard Hanners
Whitefish Pilot
Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:20 UTC

Depending upon who's talking, this year's fire season has already passed by the 2000 and 2003 seasons as the worst since 1910.

©David Erickson / Whitefish Pilot

Scattered flames mark the eastern boundary of the Skyland Fire near the town of Heart Butte on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation on Aug 1 just after midnight.

That supposition is based on where the state is now with maybe one more month of fires ahead before a good rain or snow finally extinguishes the fires for good.

To make matters worse, seven new lightning-caused fires were detected Tuesday in the Swan Lake area, despite a light rain.

Lightning keeps Washington firefighters busy

AP
Sat, 14 Jul 2007 23:42 UTC

Firefighters tried to contain several dozen lightning-caused fires in Washington state on Saturday, as more thunderstorms swept through the region.

©AP

The red lights of fire trucks, right, are seen as firefighters prepare defend homes against a fast moving wildfire Friday night, July 13, 2007, in Asotin County, Wash.

Close to 2,700 lightning strikes were reported in Washington and Oregon on Friday and early Saturday, sparking 212 fires, but firefighters quickly contained most of them. Three of the largest remaining fires had burned nearly 43 square miles of grass, sagebrush and farm fields in south-central Washington, and only one had been contained by early Saturday afternoon.

Update! Dozens of wildfires ravage West - Utah one of the largest in history

Associated Press
Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:10 UTC

Overnight rain and cooler temperatures slowed a South Dakota wildfire, as other fires blackened the landscape in California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, Montana and Oregon.

©noaa

Many of the fires were started by lightning and fueled by dry conditions, made worse by a heat wave that sizzled across the western United States last week.

The South Dakota fire had raced out of a canyon, destroyed 27 houses and killed a homeowner who went back to try to save his belongings, a top fire official said early Monday.

The change in weather gave firefighters a chance to shore up their fire lines, though conditions could shift again for the worse, state wildland fire coordinator Joe Lowe told crews at a morning briefing held in light rain.

"This fire is not over yet," he cautioned. "This fire could come back to life again."

U.S.: Heat Wave Fuels Western Wildfires

Martin Griffith
Associated Press
Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:15 UTC

Wildfires burned mobile homes, closed highways and forced evacuations from a popular wilderness park Saturday as firefighters worked through scorching heat to contain blazes throughout the West. No injuries were reported.

Lightning sparked about a dozen fires that had charred about 55 square miles in remote northern Nevada, where temperatures in Elko were expected to reach 98 degrees on Saturday.

90 Homes Evacuated Near Colorado Wildfire

Catherine Tsai
AP
Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:38 UTC

White and yellow smoke billowed into the western Colorado sky Tuesday as firefighters battled three wildfires likely sparked by lightning that have burned at least 2,000 acres and forced evacuations of 90 homes.

Nevada governor declares fire emergency

Scott Sonner
Associated PRess
Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:00 UTC

Reno, Nevada - Gov. Kenny Guinn declared a state of emergency as state and federal crews put practically every available piece of equipment on the lines to combat dozens of lightning-sparked fires that have burned 125 square miles of Nevada.

More than 1,000 firefighters on Wednesday were battling dozens of fires, from a 57,000-acre blaze burning out of control largely in uninhabited rangeland in northeast Nevada to a complex of a dozen smaller fires around Reno and Carson City that forced evacuations at the town of Mound House along the historic Pony Express Trail.

Lightning Sparks New Wildfires in Nevada

Scott Sonner
Associated Press
Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:00 UTC

Reno, Nevada - Lightning bolts sparked another half dozen new wildfires that were burning around Reno and Carson City early Tuesday, worsening the damage from blazes that already have consumed about 50,000 acres of northern Nevada.

More than two dozen fires remained active, many out of control, reaching from the heavily timbered western front of the Sierra Nevada near Reno to the sage- and grass-filled rangeland near Elko, 300 miles east.

Florida Issues State of Emergency Over Fires

Associated Press
Tue, 09 May 2006 12:00 UTC

New Smyrna Beach - Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency Monday as brush fires burned more than 8,000 acres, destroyed homes and forced authorities to shut down highways.

Officials are tracking about 50 active wildfires throughout the water-parched state, and Bush said lightning was probably not to blame in most cases.

"The likelihood is most of these fires have been created by either negligence or people doing harm," he said.