BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Wildfires burning in southwestern and central Idaho scorched thousands of acres of grass, sage and pine, as near 100-degree heat helped the flames spread over the weekend.
Still, officials said hundreds of firefighters had made significant progress in containing the blazes.
The National Fire Information Center in Boise reported Monday that just two large fires _ the 2-square-mile Falls Creek on the Salmon-Challis National Forest and the 29-square-mile Snake One fire near Weiser at the Oregon border _ were burning in the state.
So far, Idaho's fire season has been relatively mild. While lightning-caused blazes have torched more than 350 square miles, including the 312-square-mile Clover Fire in late July on federal Bureau of Land Management territory south of Twin Falls, firefighters say they've gotten off relatively easy compared to past years.
''On the Salmon-Challis National Forest, our fire season has been great,'' said Gail Baer, a Forest Service spokeswoman. ''We haven't had the number of fires we've had in the past to date.
''But even though we haven't had as many fires, our big fire season is really coming up,'' Baer added, pointing to five small lightning-caused fires ignited on her territory over the weekend, the largest of which was 3
