Crews Battle Blazes in the West

Firefighters, helped by rain and lower temperatures, made progress battling a 48,500-acre wildfire in eastern Washington on Saturday that had burned about 100 homes.

The fire, by far the largest in the lower 48 states, was burning in steep, rough ground near Pomeroy.

“There’s still a lot of work to do, but if we can survive any wind that may come, if our lines hold, we may have a good hold on this one,” said Joe Colwell, a fire crew spokesman.

About 1,400 firefighters were combating the wildfire and had it about 40% contained. About 100 homes and summer cabins had been destroyed and 100 others remained evacuated.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

In Idaho, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne declared a disaster emergency for Idaho County, site of four fires Saturday, including one that had burned more than 3,800 acres and was threatening 80 homes near Grangeville.

Fire crews were also battling a blaze in the central Idaho mountains that U.S. Forest Service officials said had been sparked Friday night by a plane crash that left three people dead.

Crews in Montana were working to contain an 11,000-acre wildfire that has threatened several homes and major power lines since it started more than a week ago. Officials were optimistic that continued cool, wet weather could aid efforts to control the blaze, which was 50% contained.

“This is the break we’ve been waiting for,” fire information officer Bob Summerfield said.

The fire center said 29 large fires, covering 250,914 acres, were burning Saturday, mostly in the West.

So far this year, wildfires have charred 5.68 million acres nationwide, compared with 5.82 million acres at the same time last year.