Fierce heat wave fuels Western wildfires

Fierce heat wave fuels Western wildfires

By JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - A scorching heat wave coupled with tinder-dry conditions sent wildfires running amok throughout the West on Saturday, forcing authorities to evacuate homes and close highways and wilderness areas.

A 160,000-acre wildfire in Utah jumped a freeway Saturday, forcing the closure of Interstate 15 for a 100-mile stretch through central Utah, fire officials said. The fire, about 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, also forced the evacuations of Cove Fort and the Blundell Geo Thermal Power Plant, where it was threatening railroad lines, bridges and several homes, Color County Fire Information Officer LaCee Bartholomew said.

Interstate 70 was also closed in Richfield, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Steve Winward said.

The fire, which has burned about 250 square miles, was triggered by lightning Friday afternoon and was pushed north and west Saturday by high winds, Bartholomew said. Fire crews had help from air tankers, but the heavy smoke was increasing the risk to those on the ground, she said.

Lightning also sparked more than a dozen fires that have charred about 55 square miles in remote northern Nevada, where the temperature in Elko hit 94 on Saturday.

One fire had burned 36 square miles, or 23,000 acres, along the Idaho border, said Mike Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. It was 10 percent contained Saturday, officials said. A firefighter was treated at and released from a hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho, with burns.

Another fire blackened 11 square miles, or 7,000 acres, about five miles southwest of Carlin. It burned two mobile homes and several smaller structures, and shut down a section of Interstate 80 for six hours overnight, fire information officer Tracie Winfrey said. On Saturday morning, the fire was 40 percent contained.

Yet another Nevada fire that was started by lightning Saturday threatened structures and led to the evacuation of campers about 30 miles south of Elko, officials said.

In California, more than 400 firefighters battled a blaze that has consumed 17,000 acres of the 2 million-acre Inyo National Forest east of Yosemite National Park, forest spokeswoman Nancy Upham said Saturday. Firefighters were searching for and evacuating hikers and backpackers.

A section of Highway 395, which runs along the eastern spine of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, was closed, and many smaller roads leading from the highway into the mountains were also closed. Campgrounds and a lodge had been evacuated, Upham said.

Wildfires also burned in Southern California, western Colorado, northern Arizona, eastern Oregon and northeastern Washington.

The fires have been fueled by an oppressive heat wave that has been felt throughout the region for days but has now eased a bit in places. Still, forecasters predicted little relief in the days ahead for a region where many cities have baked in triple-digit temperatures.

In Idaho, residents of the Wood River Valley and Boise were warned they could see electrical failures in the middle of the heat wave. A wildfire damaged dozens of power poles on Friday and caused one to fall on a substation and destroy a transformer, said Jeff Beaman, a spokesman for Idaho Power.

The damage could cause rotating outages, and residents were asked to reduce their power usage so the utility could meet demand, Beaman said.

In Montana, it was even too hot to fish.

Yellowstone National Park and state fisheries managers asked anglers starting Saturday not to fish on some Montana rivers between noon and 6 p.m. because of drought and scorching weather. Water temperatures in some lower-elevation rivers have reached 73 degrees in recent days, conditions that can stress and even kill fish, the National Park Service said Friday.

Park officials hoped the voluntary restrictions would prevent mandatory closures later in the season.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070708/ap_on_re_us/wildfires