LOWER LAKE, Calif. — Wildfires are charging through several states in the parched West, scorching homes and forcing people to flee.
Here’s a look at the wildfires:
• NORTHERN CALIFORNIA; A Northern California blaze grew Tuesday, prompting more evacuations, many of them residents who had recently returned home after a nearby massive blaze first threatened their homes.
The wildfire had charred almost 22 square miles by Monday evening. It was 5 percent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The fire, which erupted Sunday several miles from the community of Lower Lake, almost more than doubled in size overnight despite cooler temperatures and higher humidity.
Residents had to evacuate their homes because of the uncontained fire lighting up rocky hills about 100 miles north of San Francisco.
Firefighters have nearly surrounded the larger nearby blaze that started about two weeks ago and has burned 109 square miles. That fire destroyed 43 homes.
• SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: All evacuation orders have been lifted as crews have increased containment of a small wildfire sparked by a burning motor-home in rural Riverside County that left one person burned.
State fire officials said Tuesday that the blaze about halfway between Temecula and Palm Desert has been held to just under 500 acres. It is 50 percent contained.
• MONTANA: A fire has burned almost 18 square miles in heavy timber in Glacier National Park, prompting some trail and campsite closures.
The flames spotted Sunday afternoon were threatening a historic patrol cabin and come weeks after another blaze led visitors to evacuate campsites and resorts in the park during prime tourist season.
Crews fought the new fire from the air Tuesday because it is in such remote, rugged terrain.
• ARIZONA: Authorities say a 10-square-mile wildfire near the Arizona-California line that forced an evacuation order is now 40 percent contained.
Officials said crews on Tuesday worked to hold the blaze in the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge amid favorable weather conditions and relatively light winds.
Suppression actions continued on the perimeter of the Willow Fire with firefighters improving established fire lines and initiating mop-up. The fire broke out Saturday.
Officials say the evacuation order was lifted late Monday morning for 900 homes. Byron Steward, emergency management coordinator for Mohave County, says around 100 homes in the Topock area will remain evacuated.
• ALASKA: The fire season has officially become the second biggest on record. More than 5.08 million acres — or 7,940 square miles — has burned this year. Fire spokesman Sam Harrel says Alaska won’t beat the 6.6 million acres burned in 2004 because the state has entered its seasonal wet period.
