Flames Threatening Eagle Sanctuary

Flames raging untamed for five days in the Cleveland National Forest were bearing down Wednesday on the pristine Eagle Crag natural area where spotted owls and bald eagles soar over stands of big cone fir trees and aged manzanitas.

Using backfires and bombardments of water and retardant chemicals, firefighters along a remote area straddling Riverside and San Diego counties worked to keep the 8,700-acre blaze from entering the 2,000-acre sanctuary, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Audrey Hagen.

Throughout the West, Army troops joined more than 20,000 firefighters and National Guardsmen in battling nearly 600 wildfires raging over 219,000 acres of dry wilderness, mostly in Oregon and Idaho.

Firefighters sprayed foam on surviving summer homes in the evacuated mountain resort town of Lowman, Ida., and bulldozed lines on both the east and west sides of a 26,000-acre blaze that has burned up 26 homes and closed a highway.

Oregon firefighters expected to have three major fires encircled by Friday evening.