Related: Soldiers Find Fireline Life Hard,
Fire Closes Mesa Verde Again &
How to Help
MELANIE CARROLL
Associated Press Writer
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Even as word came that beleaguered crews battling wildfires would get reinforcements from Canadian firefighters and U.S. Army troops, Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said it could be fall before some of the blazes are controlled.
``The conditions will only worsen. We're still in for a hot summer,'' Kempthorne said late Friday after touring Idaho, where the nation's largest fire has blackened 102,000 acres. ``These fires, they will not extinguish them, not until October or November will snow knock them out.''
The Clear Creek Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, near the Montana border, is one of more than 62,000 wildfires reported across the nation so far this year.
The blazes, mostly in the West, have charred 3.8 million acres. Assistant Interior Secretary Sylvia Baca has called it the worst fire season in 50 years.
On Saturday, about 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton, Calif., were scheduled to begin helping crews fighting fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest.
``This could shape up to be the worst fire season for Idaho in 65 years of records kept,'' Kempthorne said.
A second large fire in Payette National Forest in central Idaho grew Friday from 17,000 to 22,000 despite six Blackhawk helicopters dropping water and flame retardant on hotspots.
Mike Dombeck, head of the U.S. Forest Service, announced Friday that 200 Canadian firefighters and 500 additional Army troops will reinforce the beleaguered crews battling the blazes.
Most of the Canadians will be assigned to Montana while the second battalion of Army troops from Fort Hood, Texas, will undergo firefighting training, and join 500 Army troops and 500 Marines already assigned to fires in Idaho.
``We're really at the mercy of Mother Nature,'' said Dombeck, who toured Idaho and Montana fire lines on Friday. ``Unless we have a miraculous change in the weather, I think we can look forward to several tough weeks ahead of us.''
Some 70 large fires were burning early Saturday across more than 747,110 acres of the West, according to the National Fire Information Center.
In Montana, 15 major fires were burning 100,000 acres. Hundreds of homes were evacuated in the Bitterroot Valley, where heavy smoke cut visibility to zero on stretches of highways.
Scattered rain and clouds helped boost weary firefighters' morale, but had limited effect on the fires.
``The moisture this afternoon gave us some breathing room,'' said fire official Chris Hoff. ``However, we didn't get enough moisture to put out the fire, only cool it down for a while.''
Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, just reopened after being shut down by a 23,000-acre fire last month, was closed again by a new, rapidly spreading blaze. The latest fire in the nation's largest archaeological preserve doubled in size during the night, blackening 3,000 acres by Saturday.
The fire was burning on a mesa near several well-known cliff dwellings, including Long House, Badger House and Kodak House, said Rob Morrison of the Durango interagency dispatch center.
``There is no threat to the cliff dwellings,'' Morrison said. ``They're down in a canyon and there is no way for the fire to get in there. There is no threat to structures because there is no vegetation around the structure itself. It's all rock and sand.''
The Mesa Verde fire started Wednesday on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation and entered park territory on Friday.
None of the park's ancient Indian dwellings was damaged by the earlier fire.
In Nevada, a firefighting helicopter crashed near Elko, killing one crew member and injuring three other people shortly after takeoff late Thursday. One crew member remained in serious condition Friday; the pilot and a fuel truck driver who ran to help were treated and released.
In Wyoming, five major fires were burning about 21,000 acres of forest and grassland. One blaze, 15 miles east of Jackson, grew by another 300 acres Friday to 3,360 acres but crews kept it half a mile from nearby homes, cabins and campsites in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
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