Wildfires around Boise taking a toll

Here's some of the latest on wildfires occuring in Idaho:

Central Idaho Fire forces evacuation

NBC News reports on Boise area wildfires

 

By NBC News staff and wire services

Updated at 12:10 a.m. ET: The Idaho National Guard is joining the fight against at least nine wildfires burning across the state, including the 68,000-acre Trinity Ridge blaze, one of 60 large U.S. fires being fought in one of the worst U.S. fire seasons.

Most are scorching the dry and hot Western states, including Washington, where the 22,656-acre Taylor Bridge fire five miles outside Cle Elum has charred 70-plus homes and more than 200 barns and other structures this week.
More than 400 homes have been evacuated in the area, but firefighters managed to carve containment lines around 25 percent of the blaze's perimeter by Wednesday night, with full containment expected within a week, authorities said.

 

Not only are more wildfires flaring up in the West this year than last, but the nation's fires have gotten bigger, said Jennifer Smith, of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

---

As of Thursday, more than 43,000 wildfires had been reported in the U.S. this season, burning a total of nearly 6.4 million acres, or 10,000 square miles, the center said.
The 10-year average for the period is 52,535 fires, but covering only 5 million acres, Smith said.

The above article is direct from NBC News service - Damon Dickson- Boise