Shawn Torres, of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, starts a backburn while battling the Kinyon Road Fire on Saturday, July 7, 2012 west of Castleford, Idaho. More than 150 firefighters are fighting the blaze that has consumed over 75,000 acres.(AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith)
Shawn Torres, of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, starts a backburn while battling the Kinyon Road Fire on Saturday, July 7, 2012 west of Castleford, Idaho. More than 150 firefighters are fighting the blaze that has consumed over 75,000 acres.(AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith)
A view of the 75,000 acres Kinyon Road Fire west of Castleford, Idaho on Saturday, July 7, 2012. More than 150 firefighters are fighting the blaze that has consumed over 75,000 acres.(AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith)
Rosie Faulkner watches the Kinyon Road Fire from Balanced Rock Road west of Castleford, Idaho on Saturday, July 7, 2012.More than 150 firefighters are fighting the blaze that has consumed over 75,000 acres.(AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith)
An aircraft drops fire retardant on the Kinyon Road Fire off of Horse Butte Road west of Castleford, Idaho on Sunday July 8, 2012. More than 150 firefighters are fighting the blaze that has consumed over 75,000 acres.(AP Photo/Times-News, Ashley Smith)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) ? A wildfire raced across 125 square miles of sagebrush and dry grass in southern Idaho in a little more than a day, with strong winds blocking fire crews from keeping it in check.
At one point, firefighters had hopes of containing the 80,000-acre blaze by Sunday evening.
"They had winds today that were kind of making it difficult to get a handle on it," Kyli Gough of the Bureau of Land Management said. "Firefighters continue to work around the clock, but with winds working against them, portions of the fire remain active."
The fast-moving Kinyon Road Fire near Castleford, 20 miles west of Twin Falls was first spotted Saturday afternoon. The wildfire initially threatened a handful of homes near the hamlet of Roseworth, but winds shifted and moved the blaze north.
Despite the fire's size, there were no immediate threats to people or damage to property Sunday night. The blaze was 20 percent contained.
"Structure support was ordered to help protect homes on the west side of the fire by Castleford," she said. "There have still been no reports of structure damage or evacuations."
But conditions improved elsewhere in the West, helping crews gain ground on wildfires in Colorado and Utah.
In fire-ravaged Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper said Sunday that cool, wet weather allowed him to lift the statewide fire ban he ordered last month. The governor gave thanks to Mother Nature for "finally giving us some relief" as extreme fire conditions have abated in all of Colorado's 64 counties.
Recent widespread rainfall allowed crews to gain the upper hand on several fires in Colorado, including the two most destructive in state history. The High Park Fire near Fort Collins was under control, while the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs was 98 percent contained.
In Utah, cooler temperatures and rain helped firefighters make progress on the state's largest active blaze. The 108,132-acre Clay Springs Fire ? burning in steep, rocky terrain in Millard and Juab counties ? was 91 percent contained Sunday night. Its cause remained under investigation.
In Kane County, the human-caused, 8,200-acre Shingle Fire was 75 percent contained. Evacuation orders remained in effect for Stout Canyon subdivisions and portions of two subdivisions south of Highway 14.
In Carbon County, the lightning-caused 48,397-acre Seeley Fire near Huntington was 47 percent contained Sunday.
In Montana, the state's largest wildfire remained 85 percent contained Sunday, an estimate that was unchanged from late Saturday. Nearly 800 firefighters were working on the Ash Creek Fire about 10 miles east of Lame Deer. That fire was expected to be fully contained by Monday.
Progress that fire crews made on other blazes around the state, including the Horse Creek and Powerline fires west of Colstrip, allowed managers to send more resources to the Taylor Creek Fire southeast of Ashland. That blaze had burned about 94 square miles and was 60 percent contained.
In Washington state, a wildfire burning grass and brush between Entiat and Chelan has increased from 250 to nearly 600 acres. Two helicopters and an air tanker were requested to aid crews working on the fire as it grew Saturday amid hot temperatures and low humidity.
In northern California, fire officials said a wildfire near Highway 395 on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada was 60 percent contained. The Fish Fire had consumed about 1,100 acres west of the highway near the Inyo County community of Big Pine.
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