BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The nation's wildfire preparedness was raised to its highest level Thursday as dozens of new fires started in the bone-dry West, including one on the sprawling grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory.
Wind-whipped flames near a residence at Maggie Creek Ranch near Elko, Nevada, on Wednesday.
1 of 2 The West had been at level four for only a few weeks when officials decided to raise it to level five, effective Thursday.
"It's driven by a couple of things: The number of large fires we have, and also the fires are occurring in several states and in several geographic areas," said Randy Eardley, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center. "The resources we have are being stretched thin."
The change allows fire managers to request help from additional crews, including from Canada and Australia, and soldiers with National Guard units could be mobilized. About 15,000 U.S. firefighters were battling nearly 70 fires bigger than 100 acres in 12 states.
The level was raised as dry lightning blasted and sparked dozens of new blazes in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah. Since Monday, there have been more than 1,000 new wildfires reported across the West, Eardley said.
He said dry, windy conditions, thunderstorms and temperatures reaching above 100 degrees were forecast to continue across most of the Rocky Mountain area through next week.
A new wildfire that started Wednesday evening on the Idaho National Laboratory grounds quickly swept across nearly 6½ square miles, 4,000 acres, of sagebrush and grassland at the 890-square-mile nuclear research area in the southeast Idaho desert. Its cause was not known, said John Epperson, an INL spokesman.
