DENVER (AP) — Firefighters battling a Colorado wildfire that has destroyed nearly 350 homes and scorched 28 square miles are hoping to have it fully contained by Sunday, thanks to rain and cooler temperatures.
The light rains have helped calm the Waldo Canyon Fire, and more rain, cooler temperatures and higher humidity are expected through the weekend. That's good news in the fight against the most destructive fire in state history that's also left two people dead.
But the forecast is not as kind in eastern Montana, where a huge 380-square-mile wildfire in Custer National Forest is consuming pine, juniper and sage with the help of gusty winds. The fire has burned 16 homes.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, says there are 45 large fires burning nationwide, including 36 in nine Western states.
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APPHOTO CODZ101: Skyscrapers in downtown Denver are obscured by smoke drifting down from fires in Wyoming, eastern Montana and western South Dakota on Wednesday, July 4, 2012. While the wildfires are contained in Colorado, states to the north are facing an uphill battle as blazes burn unabated within their borders on Independence Day. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (4 Jul 2012)
<<APPHOTO CODZ101 (07/04/12)>>
