Firefighter Dennis Klein of Parkdale, Ore., takes a break near smoldering mailboxes on a charred hillside as he and other crews work to knock down hot spots from a wildfire in Cascade Locks, Ore., Sept. 2, 2003
Volunteer Brianna Haggard, 10, prepares gallons of water for pick-up by residents of Cascade Locks, Ore., Sept. 3, 2003. Residents were told to drink bottled or boiled water as a precaution because untreated water from an additional source was added to the city reservoir to provide enough water for firefighters battling a wildfire.
Smoke from wildfires burning in the area creates a smoke-colored cast as a black bear wades in McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park, Mont., Sept. 4, 2003. A long hot summer created one of the worst fire seasons in recent history in northwest Montana.
A huge plume of smoke from the Blackfoot Fire Complex rises into the air over the Swan Mountains as the Flathead High School Braves host the Helena Capital Bruins in Kalispell, Mont., Sept. 5, 2003.
First Strike president Robert Krueger speaks at a memorial service at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg, Ore., Sept. 5, 2003. Eight members of a First Strike fire crew died in a van crash in Vale, Ore., on their way home from fighting an Idaho wildfire.
Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service prepare to battle flames from a wildfire off highway 330 near the City Creek Ranger Station in the San Bernardino National Forest, Calif., Sept. 5, 2003.
A firefighting helicopter flies in to fight a wildfire as flames run along a ridge south of Running Springs, Calif., in the San Bernardino National Forest, Sept. 5, 2003.
A firefighter watches as a wildfire burns in California's rugged San Bernardino National Forest, Sept. 5, 2003.
Chris Dion, right, and his wife, Sylvia Dion, of Vida, Ore., look over the B&B Complex wildfire information bulletin board in downtown Sisters, Ore., Sept. 6, 2003, as a smoke plume from the fire billows skyward on the horizon.
Firefighters head down the road on the way to a burnout on the B&B Complex wildfire, which continued to blaze near Camp Sherman, Ore., Sept. 7, 2003.
Area residents keep watch as smoke from a forest fire rises near Lake Arrowhead, in Rimforest, Calif., Sept. 6, 2003.
The remains of a shed are pictured close to where the Bulldog Fire started near Chewelah, Wash., Sept. 8, 2003.