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Aerial Views forest fires (6 shots)
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Initials DC/JH/BJ



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Three huge forest fires in the western United States state of Wyoming have consumed more than eight-thousand acres (3,200 hectares) of prime timberland, and are still reported to be burning out of control.

The three fires are being fanned by winds of up to 50-miles-an-hour and forest service personnel say they cannot be brought under control until the winds decrease.

The fires, the worst in Wyoming in the past 25 years, are being fought by more than five-hundred firemen and volunteers. On Wednesday (August 19) they cut a fire line around the Big Horn national Forest, where more than 6,500 acres (2,600 hectares) of timber have been destroyed, in hopes of controlling the blaze.

One fire in Yellowstone National park which was thought to have brought under control has now been rekindled and more volunteers are being called to the area to fight the blaze.