THOUSANDS FLEE AS WILDFIRES RAZE IDAHO HOMES

BOISE, Idaho, USA - A wildfire stoked by strong winds has forced more people from their homes outside a resort town in Idaho.

The fire, which is only 9% contained, has scorched nearly 160 square miles (414 square kilometres) and forced the evacuation of more than 2,300 residences in Ketchum and Sun Valley.

Despite the adverse conditions and extreme fire behaviour, some progress was made on the Beaver Creek Fire's south end.

More than 1,200 firefighters and 19 aircraft have been deployed to the mountains west of this affluent region, where celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis own pricey getaways.

More crews arrived this weekend to continue focusing on protecting homes in a sparsely populated county.

"It was a good day from the standpoint that we had no injuries, no lives lost, and no homes and property burned," fire spokeswoman Lucie Bond told the AP news agency.

"Firefighters have been going house-to-house to decrease the risk. We're simply not going to leave homes unprotected."

Lightning ignited the Beaver Creek Fire on August 7. It grew quickly, fed by dry timber and underbrush.

However, elsewhere in Utah at least in 10 homes have been destroyed after a separate wildfire raced through the community of Willow Springs.

That blaze, the Patch Springs Fire, was estimated at 50 square miles (130 square kilometers) and 25% contained on Sunday.

"When you get a chance to sit back and think about it, you remember all the things you didn't get out that you should have gotten out - it's too late," said Jane See, a property owner in the area.

Source: Agencies