The Nation : Smoke Clouds Idaho Area

Thick smoke obscured parts of the Northwest as about 12,000 firefighters continued to battle range and forest fires that have threatened homes and charred at least 300,000 acres. Almost 110,000 acres still burned out of control in Idaho and eastern Oregon, and more lightning like the storms that ignited the fires a week ago was predicted. Heavy smoke, which grounded earlier fire-retardant air drops, built up again in west-central Idaho valleys, said a spokeswoman for the Boise National Forest. Firefighters in Idaho concentrated on a fast-moving 1,300-acre range fire south of Salmon that had threatened 40 homes and on blazes near Garden Valley that had charred nearly 10,000 acres. The Oregon fires included several out of control in the Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests. The largest was the Pumpkin Ridge Fire, which grew to about 14,000 acres.