A firefighter works a burnout operation on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney, Wyoming, on Wednesday, July 4. More than 800 firefighters are working 15-hour shifts battling the fire that has exceeded 56,000 acres, according to fire information services.
Are wildfires blazing near you? Share photos and videos with iReport, but please stay safe.
(CNN) -- Thousands of miles from raging Western wildfires, North Carolina lowered its flags to half-staff Tuesday to honor four crew members of a U.S. military firefighting plane who were killed in a weekend crash.
The tanker crashed Sunday night in the Black Hills of South Dakota where it was dropping flame retardant on the White Draw Fire north of Edgemont, the U.S. Northern Command said.
Six North Carolina National Guard members were aboard the C-130, part of an eight-plane fleet battling wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.
The four fatalities were National Guard members, said the National Interagency Coordination Center. They were identified as Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal, 42, of Mooresville, N.C.; Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36, of Belmont, N.C., Maj. Ryan S. David, 35, of Boone, N.C.; and Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon, 50, of Charlotte.
The identities of the two survivors, who were in critical condition, were not released. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The military suspended its aerial firefighting operations after the crash to review flying and safety procedures, but said it was resuming operations Tuesday.
On Saturday, a smiling Mikeal told reporters that he was looking forward to helping out in the effort to quell the growing fires.
Colorado fire victim films her own evacuation
"It's very exciting. Adrenaline is flowing," Mikeal said. "We are ready to go. We have been watching the news and seeing everything that's going on out there. We have been waiting for the call."
Wildfire victims tour devastated homes
Colorado fire jeopardizes wedding
Woman records fire evacuation
Helping pets on the run from wildfires
A hospital official at South Dakota's Rapid City Regional Hospital said Monday that two other members of the crew were critically injured in the crash and identified one as Josh Marlowe.
Marlowe deployed to Afghanistan three times and has an 8-week-old son, Marlowe's stepmother, Kim Marlowe, told WBTV.
iReporters share views of the wildfires
Marlowe said her stepson's condition was improving.
"He fought in so many wars and it is my faith that I know that God brought him through all that and will bring him through this," she said.
"I just want him to know that I love him, and we're praying for him to come back home. I'm just asking for people to pray for him and families that weren't as fortunate."
The blaze in South Dakota is one of several Western wildfires that have scorched thousands of acres across Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.
In response to Colorado Springs fire, an evangelical tone
One of the worst has been the Waldo Canyon Fire, which last week roared down a mountain and razed nearly 350 homes in western neighborhoods of Colorado Springs.
Firefighters reported more gains Monday, saying they had stopped the fires' growth and were working on putting out hot spots within its charred 17,920-acre footprint.
A day later, the fire had not budged, said Tim Johnson, a public information officer with the interagency management team. "That's still the acreage, and a containment of 70%," he told CNN in a telephone interview. "By the end of the day, I would expect that number to increase."
Of the 32,000 people who were evacuated, 30,000 will have been allowed to return home by 6 p.m. Tuesday, leaving 2,000 still shut out, he said. "Sadly, about half of those, of course, are to homes that are no longer there."
The cost of fighting the fire has exceeded $12 million, he said, adding that estimates of the replacement cost for the homes destroyed exceed $103 million. In all, 1,581 personnel were fighting the fire, he said.
The most destructive fire in state history, it killed two people, destroyed 346 homes and damaged dozens more.
Photos: Wildfire photographer Kari Greer goes inside the inferno
The U.S. Forest Service has warned it could be mid-July before the fire is fully controlled.
So far in 2012, the agency has tracked 28,420 fires that have burned nearly 2.2 million acres, the agency said.
In 2011, when wildfires raged across much of Texas, 35,574 fires burned 4.7 million acres, according to the agency.
Help for wildfires evacuees and first responders
CNN's Tom Watkins, Joe Sutton and Jessica Jordan contributed to this report.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Trees smolder and burn on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire. The crews are working and sleeping close to the fire in an effort to contain it.
Firefighter Ryan Christian sits with his crew from Alaska before heading out to fight the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. The blaze, burning in dead and thick stands of timber, started on June 24 and is 15% contained.
Firefighter Alex Abols monitors fire on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. Record fire danger and long stretches of the red flag warning days have made it challenging to control.
A utilities worker walks past the skeleton of a vehicle on Monday, July 2, while searching for gas leaks in a Colorado Springs community ravaged by the Waldo Canyon Fire.
An American flag waves Monday in front of a house leveled by the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. Residents began returnning to the area on Sunday after the fire forced thousands of people from their homes.
The words "We Will Rebuild" are seen written on the sidewalk in front of a house in Colorado Springs that was destroyed by the fire.
Fire-destroyed homes are seen in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, where hundreds of residents were given an eight-hour window to visit their properties on Sunday, July 1.
A jogger on Sunday looks out over neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire. The massive fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 32,000 people to flee.
Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home in Bellvue, Colorado, on Saturday, June 30. The house was burned to the ground in the High Park Fire.
Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire are seen from the air in a Colorado Springs neighborhood on Saturday.
Damaged cars line the curb in front of ruined houses in Colorado Springs.
The line of fire damage is clearly visible in this Colorado Springs neighborhood.
Smoke billows at sunrise from part of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.
One home stands surrounded by others destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
Homes burned to the ground by the Waldo Canyon fire are seen in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
The fire, which has burned more than 15,000 acres, began spreading to the southwestern corner of the Air Force Academy in the early morning, causing base officials to evacuate residents.
President Barack Obama tours fire damage with elected officials and firefighters in the Mountain Shadows residential neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Friday.
Firefighters get ready to tackle the Waldo Canyon Fire on Friday.
A house is engulfed in flames as fire crews fight to contain it at the Rose Crest fire in Herriman, Utah, on Friday, June 29. Crews are fighting to contain six separate blazes in the state.
A pig is evacuated in a wheelbarrow from the Ching Family Animal Refuge in Herriman, Utah, as the wildfires worsen on Friday.
Melissa Bowman, a CNN iReporter from Big Piney, Wyoming, captures the Fontenelle Fire close to her home as she waits for an evacuation notice.
A camp for firefighters is set up at Holmes Middle School in Colorado Springs on Thursday, June 28. The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres.
A partially burned home smolders Thursday in Colorado Springs.
The line where the Waldo Canyon Fire stopped moving east is seen from the air in Colorado Springs. Lower temperatures and lighter winds helped firefighters on Thursday in the battle against the fire.
An aerial view of a destroyed neighborhood in the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.
The Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26. See more photos at 
Hazy smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire looms behind the Air Force Academy stadium on Wednesday, June 27, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The fire expanded to 15,000 acres. More than 32,000 people have been evacuated.
Susan Custer and her husband, Gary Custer, watch the Waldo Canyon Fire on Wednesday.
At dawn on Tuesday, firefighters stir from their tents at a camp near Holmes Middle School.
Smoke billows from the Waldo Canyon Fire west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.
Evacuees drive under a shroud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire on Tuesday.
J'Amie Sirvaitis of Colorado Springs watches the Waldo Canyon Fire after winds pushed the fire into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Tuesday.
Residents of Colorado Springs watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns a home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood on Tuesday.
Smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire engulfs Interstate 25 north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the blaze burns out of control Tuesday.
A large plume of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire fills the sky west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.
Jan Stone, right, comforts Angela Morgan as smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire pours over the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.
A portion of the Waldo Canyon Fire moves across a hillside above a subdivision west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.
Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation personnel set up a roadblock west of Manitou Springs, Colorado, on Monday, June 25.
A portion of the Waldo Canyon fire burns out of control in the hills west of Manitou Springs on Monday.
Trees burn on a ridge above Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 24.
Greg and Karen Bodine help her father, Duane Schormann, left, load his animals into a trailer near Colorado Springs as they evacuate the area June 24.
The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of June 23, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins.
The High Park Fire rages through the forest west of Fort Collins, Colorado, on June 19.
Local resident Dwayne Crawford looks out at the High Park Fire from his home west of Fort Collins on June 19.
A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant on the blaze June 19. Its growth potential was "extreme," according to authorities.
Flames scorched this area outside of Fort Collins where the High Park Fire has burned out, June 19.
A helicopter drops water over the Wood Hollow Fire north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26
A wall of fire makes its way down a hillside toward a farm north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26. The Wood Hollow Fire, one of at least three wildfires burning in Utah, has grown to nearly 39,000 acres.
Smoldering earth and damage from the Dump Fire, which began June 21, can be seen outside a plant near Saratoga Springs, Utah, on Saturday, June 23.
Burned-out terrain from the Dump Fire fills a hillside near Saratoga Springs, Utah on Saturday.
|