Wildfire-burned acres sets 45-year high
495080
Wildfires across the country have scorched more land in 2006 than in any year since at least 1960, burning an area twice the size of New Jersey.
700157
John and Ruby Haynal could do nothing to stop a wildfire 15 years ago that turned their hillside home high above the freeways and urban clatter into scorched rubble. This week, the retired couple stood outside the glass-and-stucco house they built on the same spot, staring at a mudslide that ripped open the foundation of a four-story mansion just above them and buried nearby cars and a swimming pool.
379719
By Brian Sargent, The Daily Oklahoman  Mar. 5--The potential for wildfires in Oklahoma will be very high today and Tuesday, said a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norman.
578964
A wildfire in an area peppered with property owned by celebrities nearly doubled in size Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for about 325 homes.
279548
A wildfire that has blackened 86 square miles on the Kenai Peninsula and destroyed 88 homes and cabins began during work to build a cabin as a wedding present, fire officials and family members said.
232986
A wind-blown wildfire that had forced hundreds to flee their homes grew to more than 11,000 acres early Wednesday as it moved into dry brush and grass in central Washington.
312117
By Tom Knudson THE SACRAMENTO BEE  When the Deep Fire broke out in the Sequoia National Forest on Aug. 12, 2004, Forest Service fire managers projected that the cost of fighting it would be modest -- about $200 an acre.  But costs raced faster than the flames.
379380
AVALON, Calif. - Before it was stopped at the edge of town, the wildfire  that rampaged across Santa Catalina Island burned a hilltop house so badly  all that was left was two brick chimneys.  Nearby, a bathtub and washing machine sat in a pile of ash.
657715
A fast-moving wildfire burned 3,000 acres in northern Arizona on Sunday, forcing more than 500 homes and businesses to evacuate.
155392
Roundup: Wildfires char large areas of land in western U.S.    LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Wildfires flared in western United States on Friday, burning more than one million acres of land.
409536
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California  - Fire crews expect to have a wildfire that consumed more than 2,700 acres
625034
By William M. Welch  LOS ANGELES -- Extremely dry brush and fickle winds have kept alive for more than three weeks a wildfire that is only 40% contained and has scorched 200 square miles of mountainous terrain northwest of Los Angeles.
622870
By Gillian Flaccus Associated Press  RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A blaze that killed five federal firefighters last year has emboldened those who question the cost of saving the ever expanding number of homes on the fringe of wilderness.
507650
A man was charged with felony arson for allegedly disregarding the risk of wildfire while using a riding lawn mower to cut dry grass on a hot day. Sparks from the mower burned 11,000 acres and destroyed 86 homes.
641139
A 14,000-acre wildfire burned out of control Saturday in Sonoma County's wine country, as another fire in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada destroyed 11 homes.
10602
By ALEX DOBUZINSKIS and PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM\\ Staff Writers  CASTAIC -- Hoping to contain the massive 15-day-old Day Fire, firefighters are constructing a 50-mile line around its flanks -- defying walls of flame that are devouring wilderness as they charge toward a half-dozen communities.
302630
Federal officials on Friday were tracking 60 large, active fires that were burning more than 1 million acres, or more than 1,500 square miles, across the West.