Homes evacuated near Washington fire, big Arizona fire gets second night of rain

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- About 20 houses were evacuated Sunday in a remote area of south-central Washington and officials were concerned about others as a wildfire spread rapidly in nearby timber.

The fire near Tampico, 20 miles west of Yakima, had burned 1,200 acres Sunday, up from 300 to 500 acres the day before, said David Widmark, spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Coordinating Center in Portland, Ore.

In southern Arizona, where firefighters have been battling a fire on Mount Lemmon since mid-June, a second night of rain helped crews get closer to containing the wildfire that had destroyed hundreds of homes, officials said Sunday.

"The smoke is pretty well gone and containment is holding at 85 percent," said Marsha Cooper, a fire information officer with the team fighting the 84,750-acre fire in the Santa Catalina Mountains overlooking Tucson, Ariz.

The Mount Lemmon fire, which destroyed 340 buildings, started on June 17, and crews hoped to have it fully contained by Tuesday evening.

The fire near Yakima jumped control lines Saturday. No homes or buildings had been lost since the fire started Friday night. Fire trucks were stationed around the homes that were evacuated Sunday.

There was concern the fire could threaten 50 to 60 more buildings if it crossed a nearby ridge, but fire officials said they didn't know Sunday if it had spread that far.

The cause was under investigation, but officials said fireworks are suspected.

In southwestern Colorado, residents were allowed to return home Sunday after being evacuated from six homes near Telluride, fire spokesman Lew French said.

The Telluride fire had covered 120 acres and was 75 percent contained by firebreaks Sunday.

Three campgrounds in Wyoming were evacuated because of a wildfire fanned by hot, dry weather in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

The fire, 23 miles south of Jackson, Wyo., started Saturday afternoon, and authorities believed it was human-caused, forest spokeswoman Mary Lendman said. It had grown to 500 acres by Sunday.

A lightning-sparked fire that scorched more than 5,000 acres of reservation land in northern New Mexico was declared 50 percent contained Sunday. Nearly 400 families in Taos Canyon south of the fire were not threatened by the fire. The area is about 50 miles south of the Colorado state line.

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On the Net:

National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/

Northwest Interagency Center: http://www.or.blm.gov/nwcc/

Mount Lemmon fire: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/aspen.html