07/17/2008

Associated Press

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 on Friday.

Fire crews from throughout the West have arrived to help build lines and attack spot fires in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and on the Yakama Indian Reservation, nearly doubling in one day the number of firefighters attacking the Cold Springs fire to 930 people on 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. No homes have been threatened, but several nearby campgrounds remained closed as a precaution.

The fire, which has burned nearly 12 square miles, was 18 percent contained Thursday, and Fields said the Forest Service was unable to predict when it would be completely contained.

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

Full containment would take a few more days, but fire officials were starting to send firefighters home or to fight other blazes, he said.

The Spokane Valley fire, which scorched 1,006 acres and destroyed 11 homes, remained at 90 percent containment on Thursday, although the fire appeared to be out, said Paul Ries, a spokesman for the Northwest Interagency Incident Coordination Center in Portland, Ore.

Fire officials have decided to keep the fire listed as 90 percent contained until it is completely mopped up, Ries said. About 170 firefighters remained on the scene Thursday, with some using infrared equipment to detect hot spots.