Firefighters Battle New Wildfires in West

Aug. 19 -- On the front lines of the fire battles in the western part of the United States, 26,000 firefighters struggle to contain 34 fires, including 11 major new ones.

Fire officials were hopeful that the current weather would help contain the walls of fire that reached into eight states today. Today, the humidity rose, temperatures dropped and, most importantly, winds died down. Still, the fire, much of it in steep, heavily wooded terrain threated 2,000 homes in the valley surrounding the mountains in Leavenworth, Wash.

"We have approximately 800,000 acres on fire that are currently burning," said Sue Tholen of the National Interagency Fire Center.

One of the several new fires that popped up today was a raging blaze on the Idaho-Oregon border, Tholen said. That fire quickly grew to 400,000 acres on the west side of the Grand Teton mountain range.

"We're concerned that the weather today is posting some continued dry weather and winds could blow that one out of proportion," said Tholen.

Forecast of Rain, Good and Bad News

Weather officials are forecasting rain for parts of Oregon and Washington early this week. But officials admit that it is a mixed blessing. With rain comes lightning which could hamper and inflame current conditions.

There are signs that the fires may be letting. The number of acres on fire has dropped to 381,000 from yesterday's half-million.

Crews made headway today containing the 6,500-acre Icicle complex fire that threatened homes near the resort town of Leavenworth, Wash.

The blaze was one of eight fires charring more than 106,000acres in Washington state, according to the NationalInteragency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

The fire forced the evacuation of 50 homes. The fire could potentially put about 2,000 homes and businesses at risk.

Nine homes have been lost in the past week to the state'slargest fire, the 52,100-acre Virginia Lakes complex on theColville Indian Reservation.

A mixed blessing of a weather forecast calling for rain and lightning in Oregon this week has firefighters hoping for the best. Usually, the rain evaporates before it hits the flames, according to officials. If lightning accompanies the rain, then the fires could rage even worse.