Here is a brief look at forest fire developments in the Western states:
Forest fires are burning in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Thirty fires in Alaska have effected about 2.1 million acres. The fire season is expected to continue through the end of this week, with more than a dozen wildfires still burning. In Idaho, a 6,800-acre blaze raced to within a mile of ranches and grain fields and a 7,900-acre fire burned out of control for the 12th day. Meanwhile in Montana, firefighters are battling three large fires burning primarily in wilderness areas covering 208,000 acres, and 173,000 acres burned in earlier fires. Washington, Utah, Wyoming and Oregon combined, have blazes covering close to 1 million acres.