Wildfire blazes in western states

BOISE, Idaho (AP):A wind-driven wildfire burned its way through sage and pine trees near the Idaho mountain resort community of Sun Valley yesterday as sheriff's deputies expanded evacuation orders to 1,600 homes.

The evacuation orders for the 100-square mile Beaver Creek Fire included homes in drainages and foothills west of the towns of Hailey and extending to north of Ketchum in central Idaho.

More than 600 state and federal firefighters were working to get the blaze under control and protect property in the affluent resort region that's a second home to celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis.

Fire managers say the fire grew rapidly last Friday, thanks to wind gusts topping out at 30 mph, low

humidity and tinder-dry ground fuels.

Managers at the Sun Valley Ski Resort turned on water cannons that are normally used for wintertime snowmaking.

One home in an outlying valley was destroyed last Thursday night, said Bronwyn Nickel, a spokeswoman for Blaine County, where the fire is burning.

In addition, some private insurers have sent in their own crews to provide structural protection for homes with values that can stretch into the millions of dollars.

Elsewhere in the western United States, shifting winds in Utah's Skull Valley pushed another wildfire across Utah Highway 99 towards the community of Terra, about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, forcing the evacuation of several homes and a campground.