The Latest on wildfires burning in U.S. West (all times local):
12:45 p.m.
Federal officials say one of the worst wildfire seasons in the U.S. is likely to continue scorching western states and blanket large swaths with smoke until cooler weather patterns with rain or snow arrive later in the fall.
Forecasters at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise on Friday released the four-month outlook that predicts September will continue hot and dry with above normal fire potential in northwestern states, Nevada and California.
The 10,600 square miles (27,500 square kilometers) that have burned at this point rank the 2017 wildfire season as the third worst in the last decade.
The center says more than 25,000 firefighters and fire support personnel are spread out across the Western U.S. fighting 56 large uncontained wildfires, 21 of them in Montana and 17 in Oregon.
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8:52 a.m.
Fire officials say a wildfire burning near the Northern California town of Oroville has destroyed 20 homes.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the blaze about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Sacramento had consumed nearly 6 square miles (15 square kilometers). It's threatening 500 homes.
Fire crews increased containment to 30 percent overnight ahead of a statewide heat wave.
But officials say the fire's location in steep and rugged terrain plus hot and dry temperatures are complicating firefighters' efforts.
More firefighters are joining the more than 1,600 already battling the fire.
The blaze is one of many wildfires across the U.S. West, including fires in and around California's Yosemite National Park that have closed a popular road into the park prompted evacuations of nearby towns.
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