Crews Battle Wildfires Raging Across Four Western States

Wildfires raging in four West Coast states have forced more than 1,000 people to be evacuated from their homes this week in rapidly growing blazes that mark an early start to what experts say may be a particularly destructive fire season. The fires, spread by wind and exacerbated by very dry conditions, have already consumed more than 100 structures in Alaska, and were threatening others in drought-hit California and Arizona. In a national forest outside Los Angeles, some 500 firefighters backed by air tankers and bulldozers were battling the Lake Fire, which was raging across some 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) and was just 5 percent contained, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said.