Firefighters are bracing for dry, hot winds and the possibility of erratic flames in a series of wildfires that they now say have charred almost 75 square miles of rangeland in northwest Nevada.
Incident commanders predict humidity in the single-digits this Tuesday in the Virginia Mountains west of Pyramid Lake, with wind gusts up to 45 miles an hour. Containment of the fires was estimated at about 40 percent late Monday, with about 800 firefighters in the effort. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe town of Sutcliffe is no longer threatened, but residents in some rural areas have been told to prepare to evacuate quickly if necessary. The lake is closed.
The Rock Fire, which started on Thursday, has burned about 2,293 acres north of the Red Rock area and is 100 percent contained, according to the BLM. The flames from that fire have not damaged any structures.
Five other fires continue to burn in the Virginia Mountains Complex, including the Rock, Anderson, Sage, Seven Lakes and Tule fires. They have been consolidated into one recognized blaze called the Virginia Mountains Complex.
In a statement released Monday evening, the BLM said the Seven Lakes and Sage Fires were fully contained. Minimal resources will remain on those fires and the Rock Fire to monitor them for any possible flare-ups.
Another 300 firefighters are battling a nearly 8-square-mile wildfire in the scenic Poodle Mountain Wilderness Study Area, about 50 miles farther north.
Wildfires are burning in total of seven Western U.S. states, from California’s famed Big Sur region to tribal towns and hamlets near Reno, Nevada. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in Montana, and evacuations were ordered in Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming. Firefighters were trying to stop a Washington blaze from reaching a thickly forested security zone at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Some other fires:
CALIFORNIA
Higher humidity and lower temperatures on Monday helped firefighters battle a destructive wildfire that has scorched more than 63 square miles near the scenic Big Sur coast, while firefighters in Central California faced blistering heat as they worked to contain a blaze that burned rural homes and forced hundreds of evacuations near the small Fresno County town of Prather.
A layer of ocean air that arrived in the mountainous Big Sur region was credited for the better conditions in an area where a fire that started July 22 has destroyed 57 homes and is threatening 2,000 more structures. A bulldozer operator working for the firefighting operation died in an accident last week. It is 18 percent contained.
The blaze near Prather has damaged three homes just outside the Sierra National Forest, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. About 300 people are under evacuation orders.
That fire started Saturday and by Monday had grown to over 3 square miles with just 20 percent of it surrounded by firefighters.
Just north of Los Angeles, a 65-square-mile wildfire in wilderness just north of Los Angeles was almost fully contained and only active with isolated pockets of vegetation burning within a fire lines. A man who refused to evacuate from a home was killed and the fire also prompted the evacuation of about 20,000 people.
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IDAHO
A southwest Idaho wildfire burning timber in rugged terrain and pushed by winds grew to 60 square miles Monday.
Temperatures in the 90s, wind and low humidity caused significant expansion on Sunday. Firefighting aircraft were grounded for about 45 minutes because of people flying their drones in the area.
The fire closed a section of State Highway 21 between Idaho City and Lowman and destroyed two outbuildings.
A firefighter suffered burns during the weekend when fuel spilled on his arm and it ignited.
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MONTANA
At least 14 homes were destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire in the Bitterroot National Forest in western Montana, authorities said Monday.
Ravalli County authorities ordered residents of about 500 homes to leave the area after the fire began Sunday afternoon southwest of Hamilton.
It had burned nearly 5.5 square miles by Monday night.
“I’ve talked to homeowners who said we had 200-foot flames coming off those trees. This thing really blew up, and I’ve never seen anything like it in the years that I’ve been” with the Bitterroot National Forest, spokesman Tod McKay said.
Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said he could not immediately provide details about the number of homes or buildings destroyed.
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OREGON
Eastern Oregon residents urged to evacuate over the weekend because of a wildfire were allowed to return home.
About 20 structures remained threatened by the fire east of the town of Pendleton, the Oregon Department of Forestry said.
The East Oregonian reports that columns of smoke were rose Sunday after the blaze scorched about 500 acres of grass and timber along Interstate 84.
It was 25 percent contained by Sunday evening.
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WASHINGTON
A wildfire burning toward the Hanford nuclear reservation has scorched about 273 square miles of brush and grass as it spread from Yakima County into Benton County in south-central Washington.
The blaze, the largest of several wildfires in central and eastern Washington, began Saturday on the U.S. Army’s Yakima Training Center and quickly grew in size over the weekend.
But fire lines set overnight and low winds Monday are helping to slow the fire’s progression, said Randall Rishe, a spokesman with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Officials said Monday night better mapping allowed them to determine the fire had burned significantly more acreage than previously thought. About 250 residences are at risk, officials also said Monday night and the fire is 10 percent contained. The cause is being investigated.
The Department of Energy said Monday on its website that Hanford work schedules were not immediately affected by the fire.
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WYOMING
Firefighters made progress in their effort to contain several fires burning in western part of the state.
An approximately 2-square-mile blaze that destroyed eight homes and prompted the evacuation of about 140 others in southern Uinta County was 25 percent contained.
Northwest of Dubois, a 21-square-mile blaze was 40 percent surrounded and some residents who evacuated seasonal homes were allowed to return.
In neighboring Bridger-Teton National Forest, a fire that has burned about 45 square miles was 81 percent contained.