Lightning blamed for new blazes

Eight wildfires burning near China Point inside the Nez Perce National Forest are being managed by firefighters – five are contained. The largest fire is 35 acres burning in brush and lodgepole – the smoke can be seen from Grangeville, Idaho.

The fires were all ignited Thursday by lightning.

The Forest Service also reports a 1,000-acre fire in the Moose Creek District of the Nez Perce National Forest, and the Idaho Department of Lands is battling two lightning-ignited wildfires near Whitehouse Bar and Camp Thomas, southwest of Cottonwood.

In Washington, about 17 smaller fires continue to burn in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest – many are smaller than one acre and inaccessible to fire crews.

That’s four more fires than Friday evening. Most were ignited by lightning.

A larger wildfire covering 130 acres near Ellensburg Pass was expected to be fully contained Saturday evening.

A 20-acre wildfire was burning in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area on Saturday, as well as two-acre wildfire about 25 miles northwest of the town of Winthrop, in the Pasayten Wilderness Area.