A sudden wind shift draws smoke back over the top of Sheep Mountain as the Squirrel Creek fire spreads Tuesday, July 3, 2012 near Woods Landing, Wyo. (AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean)
A sudden wind shift draws smoke back over the top of Sheep Mountain as the Squirrel Creek fire spreads Tuesday, July 3, 2012 near Woods Landing, Wyo. (AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean)
A wildfire burns in Lambert Park Tuesday, July 3, 2012 in Alpine, Utah. Fire officials say a wildfire in Utah County destroyed a barn and forced the evacuation of Alpine neighborhoods. The Lone Peak Fire District says no houses have been damaged and the fire has moved up the Wasatch mountains. The U.S. Forest Service is stepping in to fight the fire and evacuating American Fork Canyon. The Utah National Guard says it dispatched two Blackhawk helicopters with 600-gallon water buckets. With fire crews stretched around Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert called on the guard for help. (AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Leah Hogsten)
Skyscrapers in downtown Denver are obscured by smoke drifting down from fires in Wyoming, eastern Montana and western South Dakota on Wednesday, July 4, 2012. While the wildfires are contained in Colorado, states to the north are facing an uphill battle as blazes burn unabated within their borders on Independence Day. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER (AP) ? Rains cooled Colorado's wildfires Wednesday, but more than a dozen wildfires elsewhere in the West continued chewing through bone-dry pine and brush as firefighters working through the holiday kept a nervous eye for fireworks and other hazards.
Wildfires in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado sent haze and smoke across Colorado's Front Range, prompting air-quality health advisories as firefighters warned of growing fires in sparsely populated areas.
In Colorado Springs, there was good news in the fight against the most destructive fire in state history.
Light rains that fell overnight helped calm the Waldo Canyon Fire, which has scorched 28 square miles, killed two and destroyed almost 350 homes. Firefighters predicted full containment of the fire by Sunday, with more rain, cooler temperatures and higher humidity predicted through the weekend.
The forecast wasn't as kind in eastern Montana, where a mammoth 380-square-mile in Custer National Forest was gobbling up pine, juniper and sage with help from gusty winds. The fire has burned 16 homes.
Firefighters gave the blaze "extreme" growth potential, with wind gusts up to 45 mph predicted. Temperatures were expected to reach the 100s.
As firefighting efforts continued, holiday fireworks were canceled across the region. Colorado officials were calling off holiday displays from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, while law enforcement was warning of hefty fines for people caught violating personal fireworks bans across the region.
Residents in some parched areas were joining police. In one Colorado Springs neighborhood, a homemade sign read, "FAIR WARNING: Anyone using or allowing use of fireworks in this neighborhood will be dealt with harshly! And that doesn't mean just by the police!"
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which coordinates wildfire-fighting efforts nationwide, said 45 large fires were burning Wednesday, including 36 fires in nine Western states. In Colorado alone, three fires have destroyed more than 600 homes and killed six residents.
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