Rain dampens forest fires raging in US

Boise, Idaho - Cooling rains helped to reduce fires blazing across parts of the northern Rockies yesterday

Boise, Idaho - Cooling rains helped to reduce fires blazing across parts of the northern Rockies yesterday. Forecasts of more rain prompted hopes that exhausted firefighters might be getting a grip on the worst fire season in recent US history.

The first band of scattered showers moved across the region yesterday and another front was expected during the weekend.

The cooler temperatures and moister air came as almost 25,000 firefighters continued to battle blazes in 13 western states. More than six million acres have burned in the US so far this year, compared with four million acres last year.

In Idaho, where fires were burning across more than 700,000 acres, Governor Dirk Kempthorne has asked President Clinton to declare his state a federal disaster area to help free up more funds.

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In the Bitterroot Valley, Montana, where some of the worst fires have burned, the promise of a cooler, wetter weekend was a welcome relief ahead of Monday's Labour Day holiday.

While the weather was helping firefighting efforts across the northern part of the country, hot dry conditions further south were increasing fire danger from South Dakota through to Texas and neighbouring states.