Foreign firefighters arriving

The latest on wildfires in the region:

Idaho

Federal officials brought in foreign firefighters from Australia and New Zealand on Friday to shore up thin fire lines after wind-whipped wildfires leveled at least four homes on the southwestern Idaho range.

Fire managers across the region were clamoring for additional crew members as both range and timber fires were sparked by dry lightning and pushed by gusting hot winds. In the Idaho Sawtooths, the 21-square-mile Potato fire’s flames reached more than 100 feet high.

“We have strong, sustained winds, and it’s really cooking,” said David Eaker, one of 780 federal firefighters assigned to the Potato fire, which has cost $6.6 million to fight but is still nearly two weeks away from estimated containment. “Our resources are stretched very thin, and it’s tough to find additional help because of all the activity.”

The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise was tracking 64 active large fires across the western United States on Friday that had burned more than 600 square miles. Idaho and Oregon each had 10 large fires, followed by Montana with eight and California with seven.

With no additional U.S. crews or resources available to combat bands of lightning-caused blazes in the Northwest and Rockies, fire center officials used a long-standing partnership agreement with Australia and New Zealand to bring in nearly 50 foreign reinforcements that began arriving in Boise on Friday for orientation and were expected to see duty on fires lines early next week.

The first wave of Australian and New Zealand fire specialists included 15 helicopter managers, 26 midlevel fire-line managers and five liaison officers to help integrate the foreign forces into fire management teams.

“They use a command system very similar to ours, and their training and fitness requirements are much like ours,” said Tom Frey, international program manager at the nation’s firefighting headquarters.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials were scrambling for help Friday to protect homes from 11 wildfires sparked by downed power lines and lightning Thursday night in southwestern Idaho.

East of Boise, charred utility poles along Ditto Creek Road resembled burnt matchsticks, and fallen power lines closed several country roads.

The 2-square-mile Discovery fire burned one home and numerous ranch buildings. Residents of the farming communities of Ola and Sweet were evacuated early Friday morning, and crews were trying to set up defenses around homes ahead of advancing flames.

“You put hot winds on dry grass, and it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Brandon Hampton of the Boise District of the BLM.

Washington

Weather is helping fire crews rein in wildfires around the state, including two that have consumed 78,504 acres in north-central Washington’s remote Chewuch Valley.

The Tripod and Spur Peak fires, which merged into one large blaze this week, were 20 percent contained Friday, about the same as Thursday, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Robin DeMario. A quarter-inch of rain Thursday helped, and lower temperatures and higher humidity Friday were expected to damp down flames and aid line-construction efforts, she said.

The fires are in the Okanogan and Wenatchee national forests, with the northeast corner spread in the Loomis State Forest.

No homes were in imminent danger of burning, although people in the Winthrop area were told to be alert in case conditions change.

There were 1,920 firefighters assigned to the blazes. The fires were caused by July lightning strikes.

In central Washington, the Flick Creek fire near Stehekin on Lake Chelan was 30 percent contained Friday and was holding at about 4,289 acres, or about 6.7 square miles. About a dozen firefighters were on the scene, focusing on hot spots at the north end of the fire, DeMario said.

Campground and trail closures were lifted Friday as the fire settled down.

The 4,370-acre Tinpan fire along the Entiat River trail was being managed as a wildland-use fire, meaning it will be allowed to burn naturally unless it threatens to run outside preset boundaries, spokesman Wade Alonzo said.

The fire has burned 40 miles northwest of the town of Entiat in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. About 50 firefighters were on the ground Friday, and about 130 people were managing crews and equipment.