Weather forecasters at the Northern Rockies Coordination Center say the end is near for the 2012 wildfire season.
The agency that oversees wildland firefighting in northern Idaho, Montana and the western half of the Dakotas says a mass of moist, warm air from the central Pacific known as a pineapple express will hit the region with a series of rainstorms starting Saturday and lasting through Tuesday.
To date, fires have burned 1.4 million acres in the region, and 8.6 million acres nationally.
The McGuire Fire near Dixie has burned 43,500 acres, at a cost of $24 million to fight. It’s about 50 percent contained.
Meanwhile, Crews have reached 68 percent containment on the Sheep Fire near Lucille, which has scorched 48,600 acres, and cost $16.7 million to fight.
The Powell SBW Complex burning in and around the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area near Powell has burned 66,000 acres.
Heavy smoke has continued to linger around the area, and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality says an air quality advisory remains in effect.
