As many as 110 wildfires are burning Monday in central Washington after lightning sparked more blazes over the weekend, just as hundreds were forced to evacuate from a massive wildfire in Idaho.

With no rain expected, a large collection of central Washington fires are charring land in the state's Chelan, Okanogan, Kittitas and Yakima counties, Seattle's NBC-affiliated KING 5 reported. Dozens of homes are threatened by the 6,500-acre Byrd Canyon fire near Entiat, Wash.

To the south, the nearly 500-acre Canyons Fire near Wenatchee, Wash., has burned about 500 acres, while 180 area homes were evacuated, KING 5 reported.

For Wenatchee residents, the wildfires are too close for comfort.

"Inches away from causing me just a lot of heartache and frustration and grief," Wenatchee resident Archie Brown told KING 5.

Elsewhere in Washington state, about 60 homeowners were forced to evacuate because of blazes near the Grand Coulee Dam, KING 5 reported.

Lightning was also to blame in creating 15 new wildfires in Idaho on Sunday, according to The Idaho Statesman.

"Four fires are giving us a little bit of a problem, but the other 11 we’re doing well on," Boise National Forest spokesman David Seesholtz told the Statesman.

Idaho's 408-wquare-mile Mustang Complex fires is still burning after being ignited by lightning in July. Hundreds were evacuated from their homes on Sunday, as the flames came closer to two communities, Reuters reported.

The summer's hot, dry conditions have facilitated prime conditions for wildfires, which have charred more than 7.1 million acres nationwide so far in 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. On Monday, NOAA announced that this summer has been the third hottest on record in the contiguous United States.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Steve Digiovanna / Madison County via AP

The 19 Mile wildfire in southwest Montana consumes a home on Wednesday.

Winds and high temperatures were expected to create critical wildfire conditions this weekend in parts of Colorado, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Wyoming and nearly all of Montana -- where three new large fires started Friday, adding to the 100 square miles that have burned there in recent days.

Crews are battling 10 uncontained fires in Montana, the worst of which is the 19 Mile wildfire. A dozen homes have been destroyed there and 125 more are threatened at that fire alone.

Campers hoping to spend Labor Day weekend in popular spots were told to stay away due to the danger.

The fires and dry summer have left much of Montana either scorched or brown.

Billings has seen its driest summer on record, the National Weather Service's Billings office reported on its Facebook page, as well as its second warmest.

It's also seen 47 days above 90 degrees, when the norm is 29 days.

So far, at least, the city's water supply has stayed healthy.

“We can be thankful that we’re a little sea of green in a very brown landscape,” Mike Rubich, a city water official, told the Billings Gazette.

Incident Management Team / inciweb.org

Land scorched by wildfires in Montana includes this patch behind the Lazy EL Ranch. The ranch was saved and that fire was fully contained on Friday.

The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and the neighboring Crow Indian Reservation have seen the worst of the Montana fires this summer.

The Cheyenne have lost 19 homes this summer, and seen 90 square miles of reservation burn, The Associated Press reported. The Crow have lost one home but have seen 150 square miles burn.

Related: Families on reservation devastated by fires

"Most of middle class America would be able to recover," Jennifer Perfater, tribal liaison for the American Red Cross of Montana, told The Associated Press. "But on the reservations here, you've got people who don't have homeowners insurance because they can't afford it. They've completely lost their homes."

Across the U.S., this year has seen fewer total wildfires than average, but a much larger area burned.

As of Friday, 7.6 million acres had burned since Jan. 1, well above the 5.9 million acre average for 2003-20012, the National Interagency Fire Center reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 7:45 p.m. ET: California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three Northern California counties after the Ponderosa wildfire destroyed dozens of buildings and threatened hundreds more.

Some 3,000 people have been evacuated as fire burns through more than 24,000 acres of steep, rugged terrain in the rural California counties of Tehama and Shasta, about 125 miles north of state capital Sacramento.

The lightning-sparked blaze was 50 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon, fire officials said, but 200 homes, 10 commercial properties and 30 outbuildings were still at risk of being consumed by the fire.

Brown also declared a state of emergency in nearby Plumas County, where firefighters were battling a fire nearly double the size of the Ponderosa blaze. Declaring a state of emergency frees up funds to help combat the fires. 

Firefighters were expected on Wednesday to start inspecting the damage from the Ponderosa blaze, which they had surveyed by air on Tuesday.

Efforts to prevent the fire from overrunning the rural towns of Manton and Shingletown have succeeded so far despite high winds and heat, fire officials said, and evacuation orders for Shingletown and the Lake McCumber area were lifted on Wednesday.

But an expanded evacuation warning was issued for areas along Highway 36, including the community of Mineral.

"Firefighters are working aggressively to build approximately 11 miles of line and strengthen existing containment lines," the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on its website.

"As additional resources arrive, firefighters will continue to diligently defend structures, construct containment lines and build bulldozer perimeter lines," it said.

Slideshow: Wildfires burn Western states

Blazes in multiple states threaten houses and cause evacuations.

Launch slideshow

The Ponderosa fire is one of many burning in the Western U.S.:

Idaho
The evacuated town of Featherville, Idaho, about 50 miles east of Boise, remains under threat. The fierce Trinity Ridge Fire -- visible from space -- has claimed almost 148 square miles in the central part of Idaho, according to the Idaho Statesman. Featherville still remains untouched by the flames, but firefighters said they're ready with a plan to slow the blaze if it comes into town.

More than 100 citizen soldiers from the Idaho National Guard arrived Monday to help firefighters, Boise's NBC-affiliate KTVB reported.

"It sounds like they have got their hands full but we are here for as long as they need us," Idaho National Guard Captain Chris Harvey told KTVB. "Our primary role is for traffic control and entry points into the national forest, since they've closed the entire forest off," said Cpt. Harvey."

A thunderstorm on Tuesday made some areas of the fire more active, while the fire growth in other areas slowed because of the rain, the Idaho Statesman reported.

NASA satellite images from space illustrate just how intense the smoke over Idaho is. The state's Mustang Complex Fire is only nine percent contained, while the Halstead Fire, which is more than 93,000 acres, is only five percent contained, according to the USDA Forest Service.

Washington
Dozens of homes have fallen victim to the Taylor Bridge Wildfire raging near Cle Elum, Wash., about 75 miles east of Seattle. The fire has charred about 36 square miles of timber, sagebrush and grass in rural land, since it began a week ago at a bridge construction project, the AP reported.

At least 51 homes and cabins, as well as 26 outbuildings, are destroyed. Six homes and cabins are damaged. Officials say damage from the wildfire is already estimated at $8.3 million, Seattle's NBC-affiliate KING 5 reported.

As of Tuesday night, the fire is now 90 percent contained, KING 5 reported.

Evacuee Bob Haynie told KING 5 he still checks on his home every day.

"It takes a lot of energy to be stressed out and after a while you run out of energy," Haynie said. "So you just go on and say, 'OK, let see what happens now.'"

Air quality is suffering in the Pacific Northwest from the wildfire smoke, according to "The Smog Blog" by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The 2012 wildfire season has been brutal: Already, flames have consumed more than 6.9 million acres in the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Reuters, The Associated Press, NBC's Mike Taibbi and NBC's Natalie Morales contributed to this report.

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As a flurry of wildfires rage across the Western United States, firefighters on Monday were trying to gain control of the 15,000-acre Ponderosa fire in Northern California that began over the weekend.

Firefighters have only been able to contain five percent of the blaze, which is burning across both Tehama and Shasta counties.

The fire began on Saturday after lighting strikes hit the densely forested area about 170 miles north of Sacramento, according to The Associated Press. So far, it has engulfed more than 23 square miles near the Northern Californian towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola, AP reported.

Seven structures have been destroyed. At least 3,500 homes are under threat Monday, according to The Redding Record Searchlight.

The fire forced the closure of Highway 44 and some local roads and prompted the sheriff to declare a State of Emergency for Shasta County. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center in Redding.

Slideshow: Wildfires burn Western states

Blazes in multiple states threaten houses and cause evacuations.

Launch slideshow

John Cluff, 42, told the Redding Searchlight that he was forced to flee his home before the evacuations were issued. He went back for his dog about 3:30 p.m. "The fire basically chased me out of the property," he said. "All I could see was black smoke and flames." 

As the fire expands to the east and west, shifting wind direction in the afternoon hours poses a challenge for firefighters. An additional 435 firefighters joined the battle on Monday, bringing the total to at least 1,409 firefighters, the Record Searchlight reported. Additionally, 122 fire engines, 2 helicopters and 47 dozers are helping out.

Wildfires are also burning all across the rest of the West.

Washington 
Good weather over the weekend helped firefighters battle the 23,225-acre Taylor Bridge Wildfire about 75 miles east of Seattle, near Cle Elum in central Washington state. Thought it was only 47 percent contained on Monday, authorities expect to have full containment by Tuesday, Seattle's NBC-affiliate KING 5 reported.

About 60 homes still remain threatened by this fire, which began on Aug. 13. It has already destroyed 48 homes and 15 outbuildings.

So far, the Taylor Bridge Wildfire has cost an estimated $6.4 million to fight, KING 5 reported.

Idaho
About 1,100 firefighters are working to protect around 350 homes threatened by the Trinity Ridge Fire on Monday, NBCLosAngeles.com reported. The blaze is threatening the mountain town of Featherville, Idaho, about 50 miles east of Boise.

Related: Idaho town emptied as state's worst wildfire nears

Officials say this fire is expected to reach the Featherville area, where residents evacuated on Saturday due to "imminent danger."

The Trinity Ridge fire, which is only five percent contained, has burned more than 90,000 acres, The Idaho Statesman reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Updated at 12:10 a.m. ET: The Idaho National Guard is joining the fight against at least nine wildfires burning across the state, including the 68,000-acre Trinity Ridge blaze, one of 60 large U.S. fires being fought in one of the worst U.S. fire seasons.

Most are scorching the dry and hot Western states, including Washington, where the 22,656-acre Taylor Bridge fire five miles outside Cle Elum has charred 70-plus homes and more than 200 barns and other structures this week.

More than 400 homes have been evacuated in the area, but firefighters managed to carve containment lines around 25 percent of the blaze's perimeter by Wednesday night, with full containment expected within a week, authorities said.

Not only are more wildfires flaring up in the West this year than last, but the nation's fires have gotten bigger, said Jennifer Smith, of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

As of Thursday, more than 43,000 wildfires had been reported in the U.S. this season, burning a total of nearly 6.4 million acres, or 10,000 square miles, the center said.

The 10-year average for the period is 52,535 fires, but covering only 5 million acres, Smith said.

Photoblogs:

• Wildfires continue to burn, destroy homes in Central Washington
• Lone house, surrounded by scorched earth, survives wildfire

The massive Idaho wildfire, which has burned more than 100 square miles in the past two weeks, is bearing down on Pine and Featherville, vacation towns in the mountains 105 miles northeast of Boise.

"It's not a question of if, but when," Boise National Forest spokesman Dave Olson said of the fire reaching Featherville's outskirts.

The area has 450 homes, with about half inhabited year-round and the others serving as summer and weekend retreats.

Slideshow: Wildfires burn western states

Robert Sorbo / Reuters

Blazes in multiple states threaten houses and cause evacuations.

Launch slideshow

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In a Thursday morning update, officials from the Boise National Forest said the fire hadn't burned much closer to Featherville overnight, NBC station KTVB reported. Instead, they said the fire expanded west, overtaking the western ridge of Sheep Mountain.

Also in Idaho, a wildfire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest stranded 250 rafters floating the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Authorities closed a backcountry access road due to falling boulders and debris caused by the blaze. Some rafters were stuck for two days before authorities began shuttling them out Wednesday.

When Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter declared a state disaster on Wednesday, he allowed the Idaho Department of Lands to trigger its agreement with the Idaho National Guard to provide additional support to fire crews. That means Idaho Emergency Operations Center has been activated and will issue assignments to the National Guard, KTVB reported.

In Washington, NBC station KING of Seattle reported that firefighters made headway on the Taylor Bridge Wildfire burning near Cle Elum, but hot weather threatened to worsen the situation on Thursday.

Related: Inmates join fight against Washington wildfire

"We've got some pretty active fire weather coming in here the next couple of days, so we have to get after it and get this thing wrapped up," incident commander Rex Reed told firefighters at a morning briefing.

More evacuations were ordered late Wednesday on the north side of the blaze, adding to the hundreds of residents who have already fled homes. The fire started Monday and quickly spread in rural areas east of Cle Elum, about 75 miles east of Seattle.

Related: Lower temps, rain bring some relief from drought conditions

Elsewhere:

In California, crews were preparing for storms and strong winds at a wildfire in a remote, rugged area in Plumas National Forest. More than 900 homes were threatened by the 66-square-mile blaze in Northern California.

Nearly a dozen major blazes were burning across California, with some 8,000 firefighters assigned to get them under control, said state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. They made progress against a blaze in Northern California's Lake County, allowing hundreds of evacuees in the Spring Valley community to return home.

A brutal heat wave in Southern California, however, fueled wildfires that tore through more than 24 square miles of brush. Lightning sparked a group of five fires that together burned more than 14½ square miles in a rural part of San Diego County, said state fire Capt. Mike Mohler. About 400 residents were ordered to leave in the communities of Ranchita and Santa Fe.

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In Oregon, four major blazes have been burning across the state since a series of lightning storms last week. One fire that straddles the state's border with California threatened a local landmark, the Crowder Flat Guard Station. Another blaze, which burned 675 square miles of sagebrush along the Oregon-Nevada border since being sparked by lightning on Aug. 5, finally stopped spreading this week.

In Nevada, 10 large wildfires were burning in northern part of the state.

In Arizona, rainfall and cooler temperatures helped crews battling two small wildfires east of Phoenix. Both were in such remote, rugged terrain that crews were forced to attack one of the, near Superior, by air only.

In Wyoming, firefighters used a helicopter to rescue five California men from a remote mountain fishing camp after a wildfire threatened their only way out. That blaze has burned 1,300 acres in the Shoshone National Forest, but no homes are in the extremely rugged area. Elsewhere in the state, firefighters had a 6,500-acre fire in Converse County nearly contained.

In Montana, about 15 residents west of Polson were forced to evacuate after winds up to 30 mph helped double the size of a 7-square-mile fire. No homes were threatened, though some outbuildings have burned.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC's Jim Gold.

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Elaine Thompson / AP

Firefighters work to create a break from the fire burning behind them near Cle Elum, Wash.

Firefighters from around Washington state converged Wednesday on a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes, just one of the blazes being fought across parched western states.

More than 800 firefighters were expected to help fight the Taylor Bridge fire in Eastern Washington, joined by 145 prison inmates and a couple of National Guard helicopters, according to NBC station KING in Seattle. 

As of Wednesday the wind-driven fire had destroyed more than 70 homes and 28,000 acres southeast of Cle Elum, a city 80 miles east of Seattle, in Kittitas County.

KING reported fire crews will make an effort to protect the Hidden Valley area on the fire's north edge and the Sun Light Waters area on the southern edge.

State Department of Natural Resources Fire Incident Commander Rex Reed said the fire is 10 percent contained, The Associated Press reported.

"We've had a long prolonged dry period — three weeks with no precipitation at all," Reed told the AP.

Elaine Thompson / AP

Flames surround a house on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash.

Gov. Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency Tuesday in the central Washington counties of Kittitas and Yakima. 

In Idaho officials expect the dry weather to feed the flames of the 63,000 acre Trinity Ridge fire. Dave Olson of the Boise National Forest told NBC station KTVB that he expects the fire to reach the nearby rural communities of Pine and Featherville in the immediate future.

"It's not if, but when," he said.

The fire had grown in the past 24 hours, according to officials. 

The U.S. Forest Service urged residents in the area to prepare for evacuation on Wednesday. 

A 20-year-old fire fighter died Sunday while fighting the blaze. Anne Veseth was part of a 20-person crew trying to establish and reinforce a fire line on one perimeter of the 43-acre fire when she died after being struck by a tree.

The Idaho Statesman reported around 850 firefighters were working the fire, which started on Aug.3.

Two fires raging in northern California have so far destroyed almost 8,000 acres and one home but are 70 percent contained, according to Daniel Berlant of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. 

The fires, one dubbed the Wye fire in northeastern Lake County and the other called the Walker fire in nearby Colusa County, closed a portion of Highway 20 but it has since reopened, according to the Appeal-Democrat.

Around 1,200 personnel and 157 fire engines were working the fire.

The Walker fire in Colusa County threatened a clothing-optional resort in the area. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. Other communities are still threatened but the danger has been reduced. 

The two fires started Sunday afternoon several miles apart along Highway 20, the Press-Democrat reported.

To the east, in Plumas National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California, crews had to pull back Wednesday after a thunderstorm moved into the area and blowing embers spread the blaze, according to the station.

"The day was not a good day," fire spokeswoman Alissa Tanner said. "We had some issues with that southern end of the fire."

That blaze had burned more than 58 square miles as of Wednesday.

In Southern California, one fire near Aguanga in Riverside County destroyed 4 1/2 square miles in just hours. One person was treated for serious burns. Air tankers dropping retardant aided firefighters during the day. 

A fire in Joshua Tree National Park burned almost 300 acres, NBC station KCRA reported.

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Updated 12:28 a.m. ET: Wildfires raged in several Western states on Tuesday, destroying dozens of homes and threatening hundreds more. In Idaho, one firefighter was killed by a falling tree.

A fire in central Washington grew rapidly overnight and destroyed more than 60 homes, spurring the state's governor to declare an emergency in two counties, NBC station KING of Seattle reported.

Anne Veseth, a 20-year-old who was in her second season as a firefighter, was killed Sunday as she worked a fire near Orofino, Idaho, the U.S. Forest Service told The Associated Press. Her older brother also is a wild-land firefighter in Idaho, where 12 blazes are burning.

"The Forest Service is devastated by the loss of one of our own," Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell told the AP.

Federal officials investigate Idaho wildfire death

Officials were investigating the death, which came on the same day that another firefighter narrowly escaped a wildfire in southeastern Oregon.

That firefighter was forced to deploy her emergency shelter in an area overrun by wind-whipped flames. She suffered minor burns to a leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation.

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The rest of her 20-person federal crew made it to a safety zone and was pulled off the fire. The blaze scorched about 653 square miles in remote terrain straddling Oregon and Nevada, where five ranches in the Kings River Valley were evacuated.

A crew in central Washington state also barely outran flames at a wind-driven fire in Kittitas County. The firefighters managed to drive to safety as they got ahead of the Taylor Bridge fire, said Richelle Risdon, a county fire spokeswoman.

That wind-whipped fire, burning in rugged terrain near Cle Elum grew from 2,800 acres to more than 20,000 acres in a matter of hours overnight, KING reported.

As of Tuesday afternoon, it had destroyed more than 60 homes as well as 40 other structures. Another 450 homes were evacuated as winds shifted northeast, blowing toward several pockets of homes and subdivisions.

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency in Kittitas and Yakima counties to make available more resources to fight the fire.

With the wind howling late Monday, the fire quickly burned through rugged timber, crowning in trees and glowing across ridge lines. 

Incident commander Rex Reed said the fire was 10 percent contained on Tuesday evening, KING reported.

Firefighters from around the state, as well as 140 state prison inmates, were called in to help regional firefighters and the Department of Natural Resources, KING reported.

Officials said no injuries had been reported so far. Washington Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mark Grassel told The AP that the fire crept within six miles of the city of Ellensburg, though crews were able to stop its advance.

Some property at a chimpanzee sanctuary outside Cle Elum burned but the animals were uninjured, Diana Goodrich of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest told KING.

The Kittitas County fairgrounds has been set up as an emergency shelter for large animals evacuated in the area, which is home to many horse and cattle ranches, the Ellensburg Daily Record reported. Owners and volunteers were rounding up stray horses amid reports that people had opened gates or cut fences to let the animals flee the fire.

Authorities said the blaze started on Monday afternoon by workers at a construction site east of Cle Elum, Reuters reported.

In Utah, a lightning-sparked fire consumed about 34 square miles, threatened a herd of wild horses and shut down the historic Pony Express Road in the state's western desert.

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Meanwhile, crews in Northern California made progress against an aggressive wildfire in Lake County that grew to more than 9 square miles and destroyed three buildings. Officials lifted evacuation orders for the residents of nearly 500 homes late Monday, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Berlant told NBC station KCRA in Sacramento on Tuesday that the fire was still advancing, though in a remote area.

"This fire will likely make a number of runs on us today," Berlant told KCRA.

A separate wildfire to the north was threatening about 600 homes, prompting some evacuation orders in the Seneca and Rush Creek communities in Plumas National Forest.

The so-called Wye and Walker fires have charred 7,000 acres and are 30 percent contained, Berlant told KCRA. About 1,100 firefighters were on scene of those fires.

Fires across California have affected some national parks, including Lassen Volcanic National Park and Joshua Tree National Park.

In Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is inortheastern California, a fire that burned 33 square miles of pine forests and thick brush forced the closure of a highway and several trails.

At Joshua Tree, park officials said a fire burned up to 300 acres of rocky, tree-covered hillsides, closing the scenic Keys View Road.

Several other fires in hot and dry Southern California were sparked by lightning, including three burning out of control northeast of Julian. None were threatening any structures.

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Updated at 8:34 p.m. ET: Oklahoma firefighters on Monday battled flare-ups and hot spots across the state as medical officials tried to identify a body burned beyond recognition in a rural Norman home.

The Oklahoma medical examiner's office requested dental records to identify the body found Saturday, said spokesperson Amy Elliott.

The area south of Oklahoma City had been evacuated after a wildfire erupted Friday, and some residents weren't allowed to return until Sunday.

About 7,900 acres burned and about 100 structures were lost in the Cleveland County fire including the Noble, Norman and Slaughterville areas, NBC station KFOR of Oklahoma City reported.

One fire chief reported the wildfires were so violent in the area that structures were “pretty much incinerated,” KFOR reported.

Jim Beckel / AP file

Victoria Landavazo holds her 1-year-old child, Axel, after arriving with other members of her family on Saturday to see for the first time what a wildfire had done to their home in Luther, Okla.

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Crews had battled 18 wildfires that hopscotched across Oklahoma since Friday, torching at least 121 structures and charring almost 94,000 acres amid a drought.

Fires left only ashes in some spots, while property just feet away looked remarkably untouched. In some cases, the flames shifted with the wind, while in others, streams or ponds forced a detour.

Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said all the fires were either under control or in "mop-up" stages early Monday afternoon. Mop-ups could go on for days, Cain said.

Tom Gilbert / AP file

Smoke covers Highway 48 on Saturday, east of Drumright, Okla.

Twelve fires, including "a couple of new ones," continued, Cain said.

"High heat, low humidity and very strong winds make it difficult for crews and easy for fires to spread," Cain said.

One, which threatened the small town of Luther over the weekend, is being investigated as a possible arson. Witnesses told Oklahoma County sheriff's deputies they saw a man throwing a lighted newspaper from a black Ford pickup, but no arrests have been made.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated at 12:20 a.m ET: At least 121 structures, many of them homes, have been destroyed by wildfires in Oklahoma, officials said Saturday as temperatures topped 100 degrees for a 19th straight day.

New evacuations were under way Saturday as well: Authorities ordered evacuations in the towns of Glencoe, population of around 600, and Mannford, population about 3,000 in Creek County about 20 miles west of Tulsa.

Thousands were on the move as the fire in Creek County spread quickly, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. 

A Glencoe official said 15 to 20 homes had burned in that area on Saturday, KOCO of Oklahoma City reported.

A grass fire near Luther consumed 56 structures and hot spots there and at two other large fires kept crews busy Saturday. It has burned 2,600 acres by Saturday evening.

Gov. Mary Fallin toured the Luther area on Saturday, calling the devastation "heartbreaking." 

"A lot of people were at work and didn't realize how quickly the fire was moving," Fallin told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It's emotional. For the children, it's very emotional to lose their possessions."

Authorities suspect that fire might be arson: The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Department said it received a 911 call from a man who reported seeing another man toss a lighted newspaper from a pickup truck window on Friday afternoon. 

Residents returning to their homes Saturday found charred timbers poking from the debris and the burned out shells of refrigerators, washers and dryers.

"It's all gone. All of our family pictures, everything was there," said Victoria Landavazo, clutching a young child in her arms. 

Tracy Streeper was working in Oklahoma City, about 40 miles southwest, when she learned the fire was approaching. Caught in traffic, it took her a long time to reach home and then, "once we got here, we had maybe 30 minutes."

She grabbed a few clothes, medicine and her three dogs and left quickly.

Reuters

Remains of a home burnned to the ground are seen in Luther, Okla., on Saturday.

"Your adrenaline is running. You're pumped up," Streeper said. "You could just see a wall of flames coming this way. Everything was on fire."

Casey Strahan said he went outside after power went out in the home he rents about 4:30 p.m. He looked south and saw smoke rising in the distance. He thought it was moving away from him until police ordered him to leave. He rushed through the house, grabbing clothing, photos and a computer as he went. When he returned Saturday, he found the house burned to the ground.

"I just never thought it was really going to get us," said Strahan, a softball and girls basketball coach at Luther High School.

Fires near Mannford and Noble claimed another 65 structures.

Two new fires broke out on Saturday, and Oklahoma now is fighting 13 across the state, said Forestry Services spokeswoman Michelle  Finch-Walker.

A state-wide burn ban was issued by Fallin on Friday.

Oklahoma has contacted neighboring states for help but, with the exception of Texas, neighbors have had to focus on their own fire threats, Fallin said on Friday. 

"There's fires in Arkansas. There's fires in Kansas and Texas. Everybody else is on high heat alert," she said. 

Sarah Phipps / AP

A home burns during a large wildfire Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 in Luther, Okla.

Oklahoma joins several states that have been plagued by wildfires this summer, including Colorado, Arkansas and Nebraska. Fires are being fed by a widespread drought. Nearly two-thirds of the contiguous United States was under some level of drought as of July 31. 

Low humidity, strong southerly winds and drought conditions enabled the wildfires to spread quickly across treetops, said Michelann Ooten, deputy director of the state's Office of Emergency Management.

"It's just a very difficult situation we're facing that's all weather related," Ooten said. 

The heat in Oklahoma City, the state capital, has reached historic levels. 

On Friday, Oklahoma City tied its all-time record for the highest temperature ever recorded when the thermometer reached 113 Fahrenheit, a mark last recorded in the Dust Bowl days in 1936. 

It's so hot that some volunteer fire departments have made a public plea for Gatorade donations to keep their crews hydrated in the scalding conditions. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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California Conservation Corps

Veterans train with the California Conservation Corps in May 2012. Branden Gray, left, was recently hired by the U.S. Forest Service on the Laguna Hot Shots crew in Descanso, Calif.

As a staff sergeant in the Marines, Branden Gray received two Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Baghdad, a 7-year-old boy he thought wanted a Snickers candy bar stabbed him in the back. During a raid in Afghanistan, a piece of shrapnel from an improvised bomb severed an artery in his right leg.

"I was in a medically induced coma for a while,” Gray said. “I woke up one day thinking I was in still in Afghanistan, but I heard German voices. I was in a hospital in Germany.” He later was moved stateside to a hospital in Dallas.

After recuperating and fulfilling his four-year contract, Gray, 25, worked on earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia College. But he yearned for a job with the pace he was accustomed to in the special forces of the Marine Corps.

So he joined an elite U.S. Forest Service firefighting crew called the Laguna Hot Shots based in Descanso, Calif., near San Diego. The Hot Shots are friendly rivals of the Smoke Jumpers in fighting wildfires — “the best of the best,” said Gray.

He is one of a many young veterans who instead of holding a weapon this summer, is wielding a chainsaw or firefighting hoe to battle blazes in forests around the country.

“The work is hard,” Gray told msnbc.com in phone call between assignments. “But the people are second to none.”

California Conservation Corps

Veterans train with the California Conservation Corps earlier this year.

Related: Thousands of veterans failing in latest battlefield: college

The discipline and command structure of firefighting crews are similar to the military, firefighters say, and the skills they gained in military service — like working as a team for a common mission — are fully transferable.

“Like the Marines, you can’t be distracted by petty things, you just have to figure out a way to see your objective and stay locked on,” Gray said.

Gray hooked on with the Hot Shots after completing a 10-month training program through the California Conservation Corps (CCC). The California program is one branch of a nationwide effort to move veterans into the work force that includes federal AmeriCorps, the nonprofit Veterans Green Jobs initiative and conservation corps in several states.

 “Veterans have just been through more already by the time the come into the CCC,” said David Muraki, CCC's director. “We are interested in accelerating their transition into the domestic work force.”

Like the military, the work is demanding and the jobs require a high level of physical fitness.

“Our motto is ‘hard work, low pay, miserable conditions,’” said Muraki. 

Since the program began in 2011, more than 130 young veterans have been trained to fight fires through the California Conservation Corps alone, Susanne Levitsky, CCC spokeswoman, told msnbc.com. Two CCC crews of veterans are helping fight wildfires in Utah and Nevada now, she said.

Related: Jobless vets need to think outside military box

Many veterans, like Gray, go on to a future seasonal or full-time jobs with the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management. Gray is a month into his job with the Hot Shots as a seasonal worker and is thinking about a future full-time job.

“Bringing some of that military leadership certainly helped,” Gray said. “And many of the others firefighters here have that experience and put it to good use.”

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