The largest group of fires in Washington has now blackened 190 square miles of forest since it was started by lightning in July.
A red flag warning for an extreme fire threat remained in force over much of the eastern part of the state. Emergency services are now using a converted DC-10 jetliner with a capacity of eight times that of conventional air tankers to drop fire retardent.
Residents of a nursing home were taken to safety in one community, while in Montana nearly 200 homes were evacuated. There were also new fires in Oregon and Idaho.
