Lull in hot weather helps crews at Western blazes

Firefighters around the West are took advantage of improving weather conditions Friday to make strides against stubborn wildfires. A lull in the hot weather in Montana and Wyoming helped thousands of firefighters gain ground on separate blazes. Rain on Thursday dampened Wyoming's largest blaze, the 150-square-mile Arapaho Fire burning northwest of Wheatland, allowing crews to gain 45% containment. In Colorado, Colorado Springs officials lifted evacuation orders for 126 more homes at a 28-square-mile fire that started late last month and damaged or destroyed nearly 350 homes and killed two people. In Redding, Calif., a growing blaze is threatening dozens of homes amid tinder-dry conditions. It erupted into a 2-square-mile fire less than a day after it was spotted. And in Utah, rain and cooler temperatures helped crews hold lines on blaze that has burned nearly 13 square miles about 30 miles southeast of Cedar City.