BIG SUR, Calif.-A new wildfire in central Washington state has prompted the immediate evacuation of about two dozen homes.
Grant County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kyle Foreman says the wind-driven fire started Tuesday afternoon about seven miles north of Moses Lake, closing a portion of State Route 17 in the area.
Authorities said the fire had moved more than two miles in heavy sage and grass, but there was no estimate yet on how much land had burned.
Fire crews were monitoring high winds and making headway Tuesday afternoon on a large blaze that started Saturday night in south-central Washington on the U.S. Army's Yakima Training Center.
The Yakima-Herald reported the fire that has scorched about 273 square miles was up to 20 percent contained, from 10 percent Tuesday morning.
It's the largest of several wildfires burning in Washington state.
Hundreds of additional homes are being evacuated or placed under alert as strong winds threaten to spread a Montana wildfire that's already destroyed at least 14 homes.
Fire information officer Mike Cole said the blaze in the Bitterroot National Forest had burned nearly 7 square miles by early Tuesday.
Forecasters say the threat of significant wildfires will expand into parts of Oregon, Montana and Wyoming this month, while a broad swath of the South and the East Coast will see increased danger later in the year.
The National Interagency Fire Center's monthly outlook, released Monday, says the potential for big fires will remain above normal during August in parts of California, Idaho, Nevada and Utah because of dry grass and bushes.
Officials say two specially equipped military cargo planes have been made available to drop fire retardant on blazes burning across the West.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said Tuesday that the C-130s are expected to be ready for firefighting missions on Wednesday.
Each can drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in as little as five seconds.
The C-130s can be mobilized when the civilian tanker fleet is stretched thin.
Initially, they'll be based in Boise, home of the center that coordinates wildfire-fighting efforts nationwide.
In northwest Nevada, officials are reporting 60 percent containment of an 8-square-mile wildfire sparked by lightning on a mountain.
There have been no injuries and no structures are immediately threatened by the fire in the Poodle Mountain area, about 100 miles north of Reno.
Winds are forecast later in the day.
Fire commander Glen Uhlig says about 415 firefighters are working in hot, dry conditions to prevent the fire from crossing State Route 447, near Squaw Creek Reservoir.
They were aided by air tankers and helicopters.
In eastern Nevada, officials are reporting 80 percent containment of a 1.3-square-mile fire on public rangeland about 95 miles northeast of Las Vegas.