The Aspen fire burns down the southern side of the Santa Catalina mountains into the foothills in Tucson, Ariz., July 6, 2003. The fire, which started June 17 and has burned at least 70,000 acres in the Santa Catalina Mountains, skirted fire lines and destroyed six cabins higher in the mountains. Another 40 homes were evacuated.
A firefighter steps from the smoke, July 3, 2003, near the northern flank of the Davis fire on Davis Mountain near LaPine, Ore. Officials said July 7 that the Davis fire, which burned roughly 21,000 acres, is now contained. Another wildfire near Sisters, Ore., burned about 600 acres and was 50 percent contained.
Kent Romeny of Grants Pass, Ore., looks over a burnout, July 6, 2003, at the Cypress picnic area in Bear Canyon in Tucson, Ariz. Various crews burned out the area to starve the Aspen fire of fuel.
Firefighters fighting a nearby wildfire use The Taos Pow Wow grounds as a base camp, July 6, 2003, in Taos Pueblo, N.M. The fire had doubled in size to 3,000 acres, officials said. Crews planned to work to build firebreaks between the fire and Taos Canyon, which contains summer and year-round homes, bed-and-breakfast inns and rental cabins.
A homeowner runs from a large brush fire that threatened homes near Lake Elsinore, Calif., July 3, 2003. Fire destroyed a church under construction and spread to nearby brush-covered hills, threatening numerous homes in a Riverside County housing tract. Firefighters stationed engines to protect the recently built homes as flames burned through scrub-covered hills. Residents were being asked to evacuate.
The Link Lake fire burns while firefighters watch, July 6, 2003, in the Deschutes National Forest near Sisters, Ore. The left side of the road is where the Cache Mountain fire burned last summer.
The sun sets on the smokey Santa Catalina Mountains, July 3, 2003, as the Aspen fire burns near Sabino Canyon and Palisades just north of Tucson, Ariz.
The Encebado fire is seen from Taos, N.M., July 4, 2003, just as the blaze was beginning. Firefighters pronounced the ancient Indian village at Taos Pueblo out of danger Sunday as the hot edges of a 1,500-acre wildfire burned away from the adobe landmark. Winds died down later, allowing the blaze to head north and east of the pueblo and the neighboring resort town of Taos.
Kniffey Hamilton, right, supervisor of the Teton National Forest, observes the damage as trees smolder 23 miles south of Jackson, Wy. in the Bridger-Teton National Forest on Sunday, July 13, 2003. The fire started Saturday, July 12, and authorities believe it was human-caused, forest spokeswoman Mary Lendman said. It had grown to 500 acres by Sunday.
San Carlos fire work crews are reflected in the glasses of unidentifed crew worker as they continue to clean washes and drainage ditches in Carter Canyon in Summerhaven, Ariz., north of Tucson, Ariz., Monday, July 14, 2003, as they work for Burn Area Emergency Response.
A helicopter douses a hot spot of a wildfire burning near Whiteriver, Ariz., Tuesday, July 15, 2003. Hundreds of people were kept from their homes for a second day Tuesday as a wildfire swept across an Indian reservation that was devastated a year ago by the largest wildfire in state history.
A wall of flames roars through ponderosa pines in Whiteriver, Ariz., Tuesday, July 15, 2003. Hundreds of people were kept from their homes for a second day Tuesday as a wildfire swept across an Indian reservation that was devastated a year ago by the largest wildfire in state history.
Members of the Silver City Hotshots walk past burning bushes and trees Wednesday, July 16, 2003, during a burn-out operation that was started to deny additional fuel to the southwest side of the Kinishba Fire, near Whiteriver, Ariz.
Silver City, New Mexico, Hot Shot Arnold Lopez keeps an eye on a burn-out operation on the opposite side of a dozer line, created to contain the Kinishba Fire in the Big Canyon area of Whiteriver, Ariz., Thursday, July 17, 2003.
Firefighters from from Silver City, N.M., take a break during a burn-out that was set to create a containment line for the Kinishba Fire in the Big Canyon area of Whiteriver Ariz., Thursday, July 17, 2003.
Members of the Silver City Hotshots stand near trees and bushes that were part of a burn-out operation, designed to deny the Kinishba fire of fuel, Wednesday, July 16, 2003, near Whiteriver, Ariz. Firefighters made advances Wednesday on one side of a forest fire that has forced as many as 5,000 people from their homes, but wind and lightning could threaten their progress.
Charles Cordell, a volunteer firefighter for the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection District, surveys a 300-plus acre fire which started late Thursday afternoon, July 17, 2003, near the Cherry Creek subdivision in La Plata County, Colo. The fire has destroyed two buildings.
Lynette Grandy, right, comforts friend Jackie Bradley as they stand in the rubble of Bradley's burned-out home Thursday, July 17, 2003, in Okanogan, Wash. A wildfire destroyed several houses Wednesday afternoon in the central Washington town.
A fire crew works to put out a wildfire as it advances on a home Sunday, July 20, 2003, near Santa Margarita, Calif.
California Department of Forest Service helicopter drops water on wildfire near San Luis Obispo, Calif., Sunday, July 20, 2003.