Wildfires

Wildfires USA

Alaska

A wildfire sparked by an Army artillery exercise burned close to the communities of Two Rivers and Pleasant Valley on Sunday, forcing an evacuation of hundreds of people and animals in the heart of Alaska's Interior dog mushing country.

Nevada

Firefighters lost ground Monday to two large Nevada wildfires burning through parched pine forests in northern and southern Nevada, including a nearly 24-square-mile blaze that forced more than 500 people out of homes in woodsy Mount Charleston enclaves near Las Vegas and a more than 19-square-mile fire in the Pine Nut Mountains southwest of Reno.

Homes were threatened, but more than 750 firefighters, including 18 elite Hotshot crews, were battling the Carpenter 1 Fire some 25 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Over the past seven days the wildfire, located approximately one mile from Kyle Canyon and 22 miles from Las Vegas, has exploded to encompass thousands of acres of land, causing large-scale evacuations, disrupting flights in the area, and prompting the government to intercede, with feds offering FEMA grant money to offset the firefighting costs.

The Cathedral 1 fire was declared a top priority nationwide due to its size and the value of homes and structures at risk.

An influx of firefighters and equipment including bulldozers, seven helicopters, four air tankers and a DC-10 jet fire retardant bomber came as crews in Arizona neared containment of a deadly blaze that killed 19 Hotshot firefighters near Yarnell on June 30.