Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

Washington Wildfires

Mother Nature resisted firefighters battling the worst wildfires in Washington state history Wednesday as crews fought through thunderstorms that authorities said could make matters even worse.

The massive fire — called the Carlton Complex Fire because it's the spawn of several fires that merged into one enormous blaze — spread over a quarter-million acres of north-central Washington on Wednesday. It was 52 percent contained Wednesday night as crews made significant progress along the fire's east and south sides.

But firefighters had to be pulled off the line on the north side because of the danger posed by strong thunderstorms causing 50-mph winds and flash floods. While the rain was slowing the progress of the fire, "it takes a lot more than that," said Andrew Sandri, a spokesman for the combined state and federal incident response team.

One person has been killed and almost 500 homes have been evacuated by the massive fire, which has drawn more than 2,500 firefighters from across the country.

Colorado Wildfires

A blaze in northwest Colorado exploded Wednesday to an estimated 8,000 acres.

On Thursday, two 20-person Colorado State Wildfire crews will join local firefighters in battling the Alkali fire, which has burned down a home and barn, jumped county roads and started spot fires.

A firefighter suffered from minor smoke inhalation and three people were evacuated because of the fire, which was first reported at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday on private land 13 miles north of Maybell in Moffat County.

Northern Utah Wildfires

Fire crews in northern Utah worked Wednesday to control a handful of fast-growing blazes as the state's central and western regions braced for strong winds, thunderstorms and low humidity likely to start new fires, according to the U.S. Weather Service.

The Anaconda Fire five miles northeast of Tooele had burned about 2 square miles of brush. Fire investigators said they believe lightning ignited the blaze, which was 25 percent contained.