Rain helped firefighters Wednesday in battling a giant wildfire in Colorado, but over a dozen blazes elsewhere in the western United States continued to rage Thursday. Wildfires in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado brought smoke to Colorado's Front Range, which prompted authorities to impose air-quality health advisories, as firefighters warned of growing fires in sparsely populated areas. Light rains fell early Wednesday, which helped calm the Waldo Canyon Fire that has scorched 73 square kilometers, killed two people, and destroyed nearly 350 homes. Firefighters predicted that the fire would be fully contained by Friday if there were to be more rain, cooler temperatures, and higher humidity, which has been predicted. The El Paso County Sherriff's office announced Thursday that investigators have pinpointed where the fire began, but it did not disclose the location. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which coordinates wildfire-fighting efforts across the country, said 45 large fires were burning as of Wednesday, 36 of which were in nine western states.
