Several Western states battling raging wildfires

Fire information officer Deborah McClain said Tuesday investigators determined the blaze started July 22 in a day camping area of Garapata Park where campfires are prohibited.

Officials are still trying to determine who started the fire before it charred more than 69 square miles and destroyed 57 homes, McClain said.

In California's Central Valley, crews got a lot more control over a stubborn wildfire that has destroyed three homes and is threatening another 400 northeast of Fresno.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said about 300 people were under evacuation orders from homes just outside Sierra National Forest.

The 3.4-square-mile blaze started Saturday and quickly spread through steep, rugged terrain covered with dry vegetation and dead trees.

Federal officials mobilized two U.S. Department of Defense retardant-dropping aircraft to help fight wildfires in the West.

More than 1,400 firefighters were battling a blaze in rugged terrain in southwest Idaho that grew to 66 square miles and has destroyed a popular, state-operated backcountry yurt.

Firefighters were bracing for strong winds as they battled a blaze in western Montana that destroyed 14 homes and may have contributed to a man's death.

Residents were allowed back into the burned area Monday, but it was closed again Tuesday due to expected high winds and low humidity.

Firefighters expected dry, hot winds and the possibility of erratic flames in a series of wildfires that have charred almost 75 square miles of rangeland in northwest Nevada.