A wildfire burning in a remote area of Olympic National Park in Washington state has scorched more than 1 square mile.
Fire managers said Tuesday that the blaze, which is burning in a wilderness area about 13 miles north of Quinault, continues to spread north and northeast into high mountains and rugged terrain.
Fire managers who surveyed the wildfire by air Monday night mapped its size at nearly 800 acres. No properties are currently threatened.
A federal team is being organized to respond to activity on the Paradise Fire.
Park officials say the fire was caused by a lightning strike in late May. It smoldered and wasn't detected until June 14.
The fire is more than 12 miles from the Queets River trailhead.
Fire dangers prompt statewide burn ban on state lands
A burn ban is now in effect for all state-protected lands in Washington because of increasing fire danger.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has expanded last week’s burn ban from DNR-protected lands in eastern Washington to include lands west of the Cascades.
The statewide burn ban will run from June 22 through September 30.
The ban means all outdoor burning is prohibited in state forests, state parks and forestlands protected by the state agency. It doesn't cover federal lands such as national parks or national forests.
Recreational fires in approved fire pits within designated state, county, municipal and other campgrounds are still allowed. Charcoal briquettes may be used only in approved campground fire pits.
Fireworks and incendiary devices, such as exploding targets, are prohibited on all state lands protected by DNR.
The expansion of the ban came with rapidly increasing fire danger in Western Washington caused by heat and drought.
Western wildfires: Firefighters battle blazes in 4 states
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Air tankers and helicopters helped hundreds of firefighters battle a wildfire south of Lake Tahoe that grown to more than 25 square miles.
No structures have been damaged, but the California mountain town of Markleeville remained on standby for possible evacuations Tuesday. Several campgrounds along a highway have been evacuated.
One firefighter had a heat-related injury but was treated and is recovering.
Strong erratic winds and severe drought conditions have stoked the fire that was ignited by lightning Friday. About 500 personnel battled the blaze about 20 miles west of the Nevada border.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Cooler weather helped crews make progress against a huge forest fire in a remote area of the San Bernardino Mountains.
The fire about 90 miles east of Los Angeles was partially contained and holding steady at about 27 square miles as firefighters attacked the flames with a fleet of water-dropping aircraft.
About 500 buildings, including old cabins, had been threatened, but none was lost. The flames forced several hundred people to leave camps and vacation homes.
Another blaze near Santa Margarita in central California burned two homes, four mobile homes and two recreational vehicles that people lived in. The fire burned less than 3 square miles, along with 10 other buildings, seven vehicles, a boat and a trailer. It was mostly contained.
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ALASKA
Intensifying wildfires are leading to evacuations in several areas of Alaska, including a tiny village where residents fled on boats.
Officials say 57 new fires ignited in the state Monday, many of them in the hot, dry interior. Altogether, 238 fires are burning across nearly 498 square miles.
A small fire grew to more than a square mile in size just outside the Yukon River village of Nulato, prompting evacuations Monday evening from the Athabascan community of 250 people.
Other wildfires have prompted evacuations of residents in threatened rural areas. They include a two-fire complex southwest of Nenana that has burned 12 square miles and other fires near the eastern Alaska community of Eureka and just north of Fairbanks.
Fire managers say they have requested additional crews to augment crews stretched thin in Alaska, where some wildfires far from populated areas are monitored rather than suppressed.
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OREGON
Two wildfires are burning in Oregon, including one in the southwest that grew to nearly 8 square miles even as firefighters got it halfway contained.
Incident commander Doug Johnson says crews will spend Tuesday completing burnout operations, with helicopters doing bucket drops on the Rogue-River Siskiyou National Forest.
Johnson says a heat wave expected to bring triple-digit temperatures to the region will test the efforts in the coming days. Almost 500 personnel fought the blaze started by lightning June 11.
Crews also worked to contain a 175-acre wildfire south of the Succor Creek State Natural Area in eastern Oregon. Its cause has not been determined, and there's no estimate for when it might be contained.
Wildfires are tearing through some hot, drought-stricken areas of the West. They include a massive blaze in a remote area and some smaller but dangerous fires. A look at the latest hotspots and what crews are doing to control them:
Copyright The Associated Press
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