A US military helicopter hovers over a lake in the state of Washington - and with a quick dip, scoops up some water.
This scene played out much of Friday as officials pull out all the stops to combat wildfires sweeping across the northwestern state.
Blazes like this one have surrounded several towns, forcing residents to flee.
One fire, near the city of Cle Elum, has damaged 70 homes and scorched nearly 9,500 hectares of land along the Cascade Mountains.
Dozens of other wildfires are also burning across 10 drought-parched U.S. states in what is shaping up as one of the worst fire seasons of the last decade.
