DRYDEN, Wash. (AP) — Rain and cooler temperatures helped fire crews rein in the 16,400-acre Fischer fire, and evacuation orders have been lifted for residents of more than 300 homes.

Rain helps crews contain Fischer fire

By midday Sunday, crews had the fire entirely surrounded by preliminary line — hand-dug fire line, roads and bulldozered stretches, Forest Service spokesman Allen Gibbs said.

The fire, burning northwest of Wenatchee in central Washington, was considered 85 percent contained, he said.

Eighteen hundred firefighters were working to firm up the 36-mile-long perimeter line after rainfall ranging from one-tenth to one-half inch, he said.

Daytime temperatures dropped into the 60s after weeks in the 90s. More rain was expected over the next few days.

In addition, winds Saturday night were lighter than anticipated and fire lines held, Gibbs said.

On Saturday night, 304 homes in area canyons were under mandatory evacuation order and residents of an additional 167 homes had been advised to leave.

At noon Sunday, all the people who had been displaced were cleared to return to their homes, Gibbs said.

The two-week-old fire destroyed one home, and damaged another home and outbuildings.

The fire, burning on private, state and federal land, was believed to have been human-caused. An investigation was continuing although arson has been ruled out.

Wet, cooler weather kept most of the state's other fires from growing as well.

The Williams Butte fire, just inside the Sawtooth Wilderness 17 miles northwest of Twisp, grew about 300 acres to 1,250 acres by Sunday morning. It was 45 percent contained, said Marc Hollen at the NOrthwest Interagency Fire Center in Portland, Ore.

A complex of four fires about 20 miles southeast of Tonasket had seared 444 acres by Sunday, when the fires were considered 95 percent contained.

The Pot Peak-Sisi Ridge complex of three fires, which have blackened 47,470 acres near Lake Chelan, was 85 percent contained. The cost of fighting those fires grew to more than $23 million.

Containment was expected soon of the Dirty Face fire near Lake Wenatchee. That blaze, estimated at 295 acres, scorched heavy brush and timber in very steep terrain.

The Pasayten Wilderness near the U.S.-Canadian border received the lion's share of the overnight rain. It had reported 1.72 inches by midday, Gibbs said, which helped dampen small fires there.