Major wildfires are plaguing the U.S. West -- the Rim fire near Yosemite National Park in California and the Lolo Creek Complex fire in Montana, UPI cited officials as saying. Hundreds of residents and tourists have been forced to flee ahead of the fast-growing blaze near Yosemite National Park, which had blackened 54,000 acres -- up from 16,000 a day earlier-- despite the efforts of 1,800 firefighters. The Rim fire was back to 1 percent contained Thursday, down from 5 percent the previous day, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "It's growing exponentially," said Jerry Snyder, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. The cause of the fire, which started Saturday, was unknown, the newspaper said. In Montana, the Lolo Creek Complex fire had scored 9,504 acres and was about 30 percent contained, the Missoulian reported. About 650 firefighters were working that fire. "The weather has been cooperating -- the storms didn't develop, at least here," fire information officer Tom Kempton said Thursday night. "We are watching the fact that this weather, as it continues to come in, might pick up some ridge-top winds up to 30 mph. If the winds mix down the ridge tops, they'll align with the drainage, so they'll watch that closely and see how that holds."
