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Wildfires menace homes in 3 Western states

Tracy Porter, of Paradise, Calif., uses an axe to fragment a burning tree damaged by the Eiler Fire on Monday, Aug. 4, 2014, in the Lassen National Park near Hat Creek, Calif. Firefighters were focusing on two wildfires near each other in Northern California that have burned through more than 100 square miles of terrain. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Tracy Porter, of Paradise, Calif., uses an axe to fragment a burning tree damaged by the Eiler Fire on Monday, Aug. 4, 2014, in the Lassen National Park near Hat Creek, Calif. Firefighters were focusing on two wildfires near each other in Northern California that have burned through more than 100 square miles of terrain. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Tracy Porter, of Paradise, Calif., uses an axe to fragment a burning tree damaged by the Eiler Fire on Monday, Aug. 4, 2014, in the Lassen National Park near Hat Creek, Calif. Firefighters were focusing on two wildfires near each other in Northern California that have burned through more than 100 square miles of terrain. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

By Associated Press 4 min read

BURNEY, Calif. (AP) – Two wildfires that burned or threatened hundreds of homes in Northern California were menacing a small town as they plowed through more than 100 square miles of drought-stricken brush, and Tuesday brought a chance of thunderstorms and lightning that could spark new blazes, officials said.

The Eiler Fire that destroyed eight homes in recent days continued to threaten around 700, and some evacuations remained in force around the town of Burney in Shasta County.

The town of about 3,000 was watching and waiting as ash rained down and smoke rose only about 4 miles away. Residents were advised that they should be prepared if they have to flee the blaze, which was only 10 percent contained late Monday night.

Nate Helle, manager of the Alpine Drive Inn in Burney, was still serving meals to customers late Monday morning, including hungry firefighters.

The presence of more than 1,000 firefighters, some from as far away as Montana, helped ease residents’ anxiety, he told the Redding Record Searchlight (http://bit.ly/1o9vYXT).