Fire Crews Gain Footing In West

Fire crews in southern California gained more footing Thursday morning in their fight against the massive Day wildfire, after cooler, wetter weather rolled in over night.

The fire crept to within a mile of a mobile home park in the Paradise Ranch area but officials said there was no immediate danger to residents and no evacuations had been ordered.

The blaze has charred at least 27-thousand acres, more than 43 square miles, since it was sparked on Labor Day.

Firefighters have worked to keep the fire from jumping to the east side of Interstate Five, where Paradise Ranch Mobile Home Park residents have watched with fingers crossed.

Thursday morning it looked as though their homes were safe. Officials said the Day Fire was 30 percent contained and all but two lanes of the major freeway were open to traffic.

More favorable firefighting weather was also moving in across the Pacific Northwest, where many of this season's roughly 82,000 wildfires have done their damage.

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho reported Wednesday that 8.6 million acres, or 13,600 square miles, had burned, setting a 45 year record.

But with the cold front moving into the Pacific Northwest set to drop temperatures 20 to 30 degrees across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana by the weekend, the flames of this season may finally start to die down.

That will be welcome news for crews in Montana, still facing several fires that claimed more territory on Wednesday.

The Cigarette Rock fire was burning primarily in a wilderness area, but was sending spot fires toward residential areas.

A Forest Service official said about 48 vacation homes and two resorts were under evacuation order. The Lewis and Clark County sheriff said the American Red Cross had set up an evacuation shelter.

Elsewhere in the state, a wildfire southeast of Livingston doubled in size, prompting authorities in Park and Sweet Grass counties to urge residents of about 325 homes to evacuate Wednesday.

The Jungle fire was estimated at 18,845 acres, up from 9,300 acres late Tuesday night, and it was still spreading.

Livingston fire information officer Al Nash told Billings-based KTVQ Television Wednesday "the forcast looks promising for some cooler temperatures and a chance even of some showers."

"That'd be good. That would quiet the fire down," Nash added.

Forecasters say a second system will follow the approaching cold front early next week, but wildfire research meteorologist Miriam Rorig, in Seattle, said the coming weather may not be enough to completely extinguish the fire season.

She did say, however, that it would definitely allow fire crews to make some more headway.