Article updated: 9/11/2012 11:11 PM

Western wildfires force more to flee

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A DC-10 tanker jet drops a load of fire retardant on the north side of Casper Mountain as a wildfire continues to burn Tuesday in Wyoming. The fire was listed at more than 15,000 acres as of Tuesday morning.

Associated Press

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Part of a contract fire crew from Roseburg and Medford, Ore., rests on Sleepy Hollow Road after building a fire line down a steep hillside in Wenatchee, Wash.

Associated Press

Clouds turn red from the setting sun where a wildfire burns nearby Monday evening near Wenatchee, Wash. Crews in central Washington and Wyoming worked Monday to protect homes from two of the many wildfires burning throughout the West as a destructive fire season stretches into September with no relief expected from the weather anytime soon.

Associated Press

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A haze of thick smoke formed Tuesday over vast swathes of the West as wildfires forced more residents to flee their homes in several states. Fire officials reported seven homes were destroyed and hundreds of people were evacuated near Casper, Wyo., where a wildfire has burned across almost 24 square miles. In western Montana, fire crews said there was no containment in sight for a blaze that has prompted an evacuation order for 400 houses west of Hamilton.