68,000 -plus acres, so far, little containment

Homes were lost in minutes, animals raced for refuge, people fled ahead of flames as the Kaiser Canyon Fire grew relentlessly this week from a few acres on the morning of July 16 to more than 68,000 Tuesday.

Firefighters and volunteers managed to save Nespelem proper. Several people credited the Palmer family with working tirelessly on bulldozers to create fire breaks around outlying homes that co...