SALMON, Idaho, USA - Wildfires roared out of control across the sun-scorched U.S. West on Wednesday and threatened to engulf two small towns in Idaho as firefighters managed to partially dampen a monster blaze that has destroyed more than 60 homes in Washington state.All told, the fires have blackened more than half a million acres across Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California, destroying homes and outbuildings, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate ahead of the flames and killing a young firefighter.
- In Idaho, authorities told some 1,000 residents around the south-central communities of Featherville and Pine to prepare for evacuation as a blaze that has consumed more than 63,000 acres raged just miles from the two towns.
- The Trinity Ridge fire that menaces Featherville and Pine erupted after a utility terrain vehicle caught fire on August 3. Strong winds sent flames racing across parched grasslands and sagebrush and into tinder-dry pine forests, federal fire information officer Brandon Hampton said.
- The blaze was 5 percent contained, and roads to the two high mountain desert towns about 50 miles southeast of Boise have been blocked to everyone except residents and firefighters.
Wildfires have consumed roughly 6 million acres across the nation so far in 2012, above the 10-year average of 4.9 million acres, figures from the National Interagency Fire Center show.In Washington state, firefighters battling the destructive Taylor Bridge Fire tearing through grasslands and wooded areas between the towns of Cle Elum and Ellensburg were aided by a shift in winds and said they hoped to have a quarter of the blaze under control by Wednesday evening.
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