Heat, wind may fuel wildfires around state

TROUT LAKE -- Cooler temperatures and higher humidity have helped keep a forest fire near Mount Adams from actively growing over the past few days, but fire officials expect hotter temperatures, lower humidity and higher winds Friday.

Fire crews from throughout the West have arrived to help in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and on the Yakama Indian Reservation. The new arrivals brought the number of firefighters attacking the Cold Springs fire to 930 people Thursday, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Joe Fields.

The Cold Springs Fire, first reported late Saturday, was believed to have been started by lightning several days earlier. Several nearby campgrounds remained closed as a precaution.

The Badger Mountain complex of fires, which have burned 23 square miles north of Wenatchee, were 95 percent contained, said spokesman Dave Cox of the Skamania County Sheriff's Office.

The Spokane Valley Fire, which scorched 1,006 acres and destroyed 11 homes, was 90 percent contained.