aided by good weather - made progress Monday in their weeklong battle against wildfires that have destroyed more than 400,000 acres and cost more than $50 million in seven Western states.
Several thousand U.S. Army troops, given a basic firefighting course, began relieving exhausted firefighters in California and Oregon.Twenty-eight major fires were still burning Monday across 330,000 acres in five states - California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Utah. Fires in Montana and Nevada were controlled.
A major victory was reported in Oregon with the containment of a nearly 74,000-acre fire in the Ochoco National Forest.
Firefighters contained the 73,700 acre Pine Springs Basin fire near Burns, Ore., which was triggered by lightning Aug. 6, and exploded into a monster blaze two days later.
The total cost of six major Oregon fires battled by 7,332 firefighters this past week was estimated at $11.7 million.
The fires hit hardest in California, where some 12,000 firefighters battled about 1,300 fires that had charred more than 210,000 acres. Most of the fires were sparked by more than 30,000 lightning strikes reported in the past week.
Gov. George Deukmejian estimated Monday that the state could spend more than $40 million suppressing the fires, which damaged or destroyed 127 buildings.
Three major fires forced the closure of Yosemite National Park at the height of the summer tourist season, have consumed about 18,000 acres and have threatened a grove of ancient redwoods.