Washington's Taylor Bridge Fire has burned over 24,000 acres in less than twenty-four hours. Around 450 people have been evacuated and National Guard troops are being activated to help with efforts. One hundred and forty prisoners have also been put on the front lines to fight the fire. At least sixty homes have been burned down. One of the fire fighting crews barely escaped the flames, but luckily did so without injuries. Kittitas and Yakima counties have been declared emergency areas by Governor Chris Gregoire.
Seven hundred and fifty fire fighters are concentrating on trying to contain the Holloway Fire. At nearly 420,000 acres, it crosses onto both sides of the Oregon, Nevada border. Flames up to fifteen feet were reported coming from the blaze. A firefighter battling it suffered burns to the leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation. She was air lifted out, and is being treated in a Salt Lake City burn center.
North of San Fransisco, a fire is nearing 7,000 acres are about thirty percent combined. So far two buildings have burned down, whilst another was damaged and nearly five hundred homes are threatened. A fire fighter was injured, there as well, but no details on the extent of their injures have been released. Further north another fire is nearing fifty-five square miles and threatening six hundred homes. Four fires near San Diego are combining to burn 2,300 acres, and threatening the city's power supply.
In Oklahoma over a dozen fires are burning, and have already destroyed 120 structures. The fires have combined to burn around 50,000 acres, forcing thousands to evacuate.
A wild horse herd is being threatened by a fire in Utah, which is nearing thirty-four square miles of burned area.
Hot dry weather is expected to continue throughout the western US. The entire country is going through the worst drought in decades. Some areas have not seen temps drop below one hundred degrees in weeks. Others have seen weeks go by without any kind of precipitation.
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