Affluent Idaho resort area braces for more wildfire evacuations

[WorldNews]

By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Crews battling a wildfire that destroyed six upscale homes and forced 600 people from a resort area in Idaho on Tuesday braced for strong winds as authorities warned scores more homeowners and businesses to prepare to evacuate at a moment's notice. The so-called Cape Horn fire in northern Idaho has scorched 2,000 acres of mountain spruce and pine forests hugging multimillion-dollar cabins and condominium developments on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho's largest lake. It is among dozens of large blazes burning out of control across the drought-stricken U.S. West, where federal fire managers say nearly three times as many acres have burned so far this year as in the same period last year, the National Fire Information Center said.

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