Six Houses Burn in Glacier National Park

At least six houses burned in a blaze that blew up along the western edge of Glacier National Park, a crown jewel of the park system from which thousands of people have been evacuated because of wildfires.

The houses were lost in a fire that has burned 14,000 acres west of the national park, Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont said Friday. No one was injured in the blaze, which continued to threaten hundreds of homes.

Meanwhile, a helicopter dumping water on a wildfire on an Indian reservation in northeastern Washington crashed Friday evening, a fire spokesman said. The fate of the pilot was not immediately known.

In California, a wildfire expanded into rugged terrain in the Sequoia National Forest, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Firefighting officials said Friday that up to 200 homes and other buildings could be threatened if the 1,100-acre blaze got out of control, but the giant redwoods for which the forest is named were too far away to be in danger.

Elsewhere in California, wildfires forced residents to evacuate hundreds of homes in Southern California’s Riverside County and devouring brush in Kern and Los Angeles counties.

Residents of a rural, hillside community close to the blaze in Riverside County quickly gathered their possessions and headed to nearby Banning High School after authorities ordered the evacuation of 500 homes.

Colorado was fighting wildfires that covered a total of about 11,000 acres, including a lightning-caused blaze that broke out Friday northwest of Fort Collins and forced the evacuation of 15 homes.

In Montana, hundreds of firefighters tried to contain seven major fires around the state, including the one near Glacier National Park. The firefighters were helped by overcast skies and cooler weather.

Campers and concession employees were evacuated from the park, and even its headquarters was empty.

“It’s time to go,” park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt Thursday as the fire approached less than two miles from West Glacier. “We’re looking right at this thing from headquarters.”

The National Interagency Fire Center said 42 large fires were burning in 12 Western states Friday.

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On the Net:

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