Wildfire near Mt. Adams balloons

TROUT LAKE, Wash. - A wildfire south of Mount Adams grew to more than 8,000 acres Monday, burning through the treetops as firefighters mounted a ground attack to contain the blaze.

The fire, located south of Mount Adams, was moving east Monday toward Yakima Nation timberland. Forest Service officials said as long as the blaze did not move to the south, residents of the small town of Glenwood, Wash., would not be threatened. The fire was about 10 miles from the town Monday.

The forest in the area has not seen a major fire in decades. It has seen acres of trees damaged and dying from an infestation of spruce budworm, creating conditions ripe for the fire to spread.

"We've got a lot of dead material," said Lynn Burditt of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. "The fire is actually moving through the crowns of the trees."

More than 200 people were working to contain the fire Monday, including nine 20-person crews, 10 wildland fire engines and six bulldozers. Air tankers and two firefighting helicopters were attacking the blaze from the air.

The fire, dubbed the Cold Springs Fire, was not threatening any communities or buildings as of Monday, though Forest Service officials kept closed a popular forest road used by climbers heading up the south side of Mount Adams. 

Fire officials had no estimate of when the fire might be contained.

Forest Service officials believe a lightning strike from a June 29 thunderstorm might have created a hotspot that smoldered for several weeks before Sunday's dry winds spread it across more than 1,000 acres in a matter of hours.

The huge plume of smoke created by the fire was visible to those as far away as the Portland-area, and some fretted that it was an eruption.