More than 8,400 firefighters across the West battled dozens of wildfires Thursday that forced thousands of local residents
to pack up families, pets and personal treasures to flee the advancing blazes. Twenty-seven large fires were burning nearly 180,000 acres, the National Interagency Fire Center reported, as the region continued to pay a steep price for a recent, record-smashing
heat wave that combined with low humidity and wind to create a perfect storm for wildfires. |