01:24 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Associated Press

KING A firefighter douses a blaze in Burien.

SEATTLE - Firefighters on Monday battled two small fires in Western Washington, where woods and brush have been drying in hot weather.

Spokesman Ron Dehart said one fire had burned six acres of second-growth timber near Enumclaw. The other had burned about three acres in a rugged area of scattered timber near Darrington.

Both fires were apparently started last Thursday by lightning.

Dehart said hotshot firefighting crews were responding to prevent them from spreading.

A total of 40 firefighters from Entiat and Zigzag, Oregon, were dispatched to help local firefighters at the blaze east of Enumclaw.

About 20 firefighters from Sedro Woolley were dispatched to fight the fire in the Boulder River Wilderness west of Darrington.

Dehart said both wildfires would grow and firefighters were concerned about the warm, dry conditions.

Also Monday, firefighters worked to douse a blaze that was rapidly moving up a hillside toward homes in Burien, near Highway 509 and Highway 518. The fire came close to several homes.