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In West, it's either flames or floods

Rain slows in and around Texas, but water may still rise.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 7, 2007

High temperatures made worse by wildfires in western states

Firefighters had to contend with triple-digit temperatures Friday in Utah, Southern California and Oregon as they battled wildfires that charred thousands of acres in rugged terrain.

Oppressive temperatures eased a bit in some parts of the West on Friday, but forecasters report little relief in the days ahead, saying the weather system that brought the high temperatures could last well into next week.

Crews managed to keep a week-old blaze that killed three people and destroyed a dozen homes in northeastern Utah from growing much larger, despite gusty wind, officials said.

Twelve helicopters and more than 800 firefighters were working the fire 100 miles east of Salt Lake City. It was 55 percent contained Friday and had consumed just over 66 square miles in Uintah and Duchesne counties.

"The hard work of the crews paid off as containment lines held as winds gusted up to 30 mph, " the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team said.

On the Utah-Arizona line, where temperatures exceeded 100 degrees, 50 firefighters and two air tankers fought a blaze southwest of St. George that was sparked by lightning Thursday and burned at least 4, 000 acres, or six square miles.

In Southern California, a 1, 500-acre wildfire burned Friday in the foothills of Santa Barbara County. It was 30 percent contained and had "potential to grow, " county fire Capt. Eli Iskow said.

In southeast Oregon, a burning vehicle ignited a wildfire Thursday that grew to 10, 000 acres. It was burning Friday five miles away from the Oregon State University's Northern Great Basin Experiment Station, federal officials said.

Rain slows in and around Texas, but water may still rise 

Heavy rains that have pounded parts of Texas for weeks were leaving the state Friday, but the fast-moving currents they left in the Brazos River hampered the search for a boy swept from his father's arms.

Meanwhile, rivers in Oklahoma and Kansas continued to recede, revealing millions of dollars in flood damage to homes and businesses.

The region may get some relief beginning this weekend. Much of Texas may get some daytime showers and isolated thunderstorms over the weekend, but the large swaths of pounding rain were expected to dissipate, forecasters said.

"You're going to see less and less, " National Weather Service meteorologist Cristy Mitchell said.

But river waters could keep rising in some places. Forecasters warned that the Trinity River in East Texas would crest near 43 feet on Sunday - well above the 28-foot flood stage. Flood warnings were in effect for rivers in Oklahoma.

The waters of the Brazos River in East Texas were moving so fast that it was pushing out 20 miles into the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, and taking everything caught upstream - from cars to refrigerators to trees - with it.

Police and fire officials have been searching with helicopters and boats since Tuesday for 6-year-old Cesar Aparicio. The boy was at a family gathering at a beach about 60 miles south of Houston when he was swept into floodwaters.

Searchers planned to continue to look for the boy and no timetable was set to end the operation, authorities said. There was little hope of the child's survival, and he could have been propelled far into the gulf by tidal currents.

"We're just not ready to tell the mother we're going to give up looking for her little boy, " Freeport police Chief Jeff Pynes said.

Texas has been drenched day after day since late May, filling lakes and rivers, washing out bridges and roads, and damaging 1, 000 homes. All of Texas' major river basins are at flood stage, the first time that has happened since 1957.

Since May 23, there have been 13 weather-related deaths in Texas.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wondered what had befallen her state this year - flooding, a winter ice storm and May tornadoes.

"The locusts may come next, " she said. "We hope not."

[Last modified July 7, 2007, 01:30:26]