Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho residents tormented by wildfires

Crews fought to re-establish containment lines as the Chips Fire in Plumas National Forest threatened more than 900 homes and prompted voluntary evacuations.

Firefighters struggled to regain ground lost Tuesday as blowing embers helped spread the blaze along its southern edge. Thunderstorms could aid their work or make their jobs even more difficult, fire spokeswoman Alissa Tanner said.

"If the thunderstorms will just be rain and not gusts of winds that will be a real blessing," she said. "If not, then it could spread the fire in many different directions."

The blaze has burned 66 square miles and was about 20 percent contained.

Firefighters made significant progress against a wildfire in nearby Lake County, despite dry weather and triple-digit temperatures.

The fire was 70 percent contained, and hundreds of evacuees were allowed to return after the fire that burned more than 12 square miles and threatened nearly 500 homes in the Spring Valley community.

In Southern California, wildfires threatened dozens of homes after burning through more than 19 square miles of brush in the midst of a brutal heat wave.

In rural northeastern San Diego County, a complex of five wildfires caused by lightning had burned more than 14½ square miles of wilderness and was 5 percent contained, state fire Capt. Mike Mohler said.

Evacuation orders were issued for the communities of Ranchita and Santa Fe, covering about 180 homes and 400 residents.

The two largest and most active fires were above the desert floor in an area subject to erratic winds. Forecasts called for a return of monsoonal moisture that could create thunderstorms with even more erratic winds Thursday, Mohler said.

Meanwhile, a 4½-square-mile blaze in the foothills of Riverside County's San Jacinto Mountains threatened 47 homes and was 15 percent contained. It didn't move much overnight, authorities said.

The fire near the community of Aguanga, east of Temecula, had burned four structures, including at least one home.

In Oregon, four major blazes have been burning across the state since a series of lightning storms last week. Firefighters strengthened lines protecting about 20 rural homes outside Lakeview, but an evacuation advisory remained in force for those and a dozen more.

Meanwhile, the Barry Point fire continued to grow on the southern end in California, where it is burning timber and sagebrush on the Modoc National Forest. It remains 25 percent contained at 92 square miles.

Firefighters said higher humidity has helped them all but contain the Nevada portion of a huge wildfire burning on both sides of the Nevada-Oregon state line. They said the Holloway Fire died down and stopped spreading Tuesday night.

Associated Press writers Terry Collins in San Francisco; Nick Geranios in Spokane, Wash.; Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore.; and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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