Crews fighting a large blaze in central Washington hope to increase containment levels by Wednesday evening but are keeping a wary eye on weather conditions later in the week.

The fire near Cle Elum has burned dozens of homes and caused about 900 people to evacuate. Incident commander Rex Reed said he was hopeful containment would be up from 10 percent to 25 percent later in the day.

"We're at 800 people assigned to this fire now, so we should have a good day," he said of efforts to battle the Taylor Bridge fire, which has scorched 28,000 acres, more than 40 square miles.

However, authorities are worried about hotter, drier conditions Thursday and Friday and the possibility of lightning Saturday. The fire that broke out Monday at a bridge construction site.

Meanwhile, a brush fire not far from Grand Coulee Dam in Eastern Washington had burned about 5,000 acres, nearly 8 square miles, near Elmer City.

David Neehan with the Colville Interagency Fire Center told KPQ the fire was threatening homes. The fire broke out Tuesday evening and has closed Highway 155 near Elmer City.

Things went well on the Taylor Ridge blaze overnight, Reed said. Firefighters are focusing on preventing the fire from threatening a housing development near Cle Elum and moving into a stand of timber.

At least 400 homes with an estimated 900 people have been evacuated in the rural community on the east side of the Cascades, about 75 miles east of Seattle.

State and local officials said 60 primary residences have burned, as well as other structures.

No injuries have been reported.

A number of homes that burned were along Bettas Road near Cle Elum. An Associated Press photographer witnessed about eight people using hand tools Tuesday to cut a fire line in an attempt to protect one home.

The grass fire was suddenly whipped up by the wind and came directly toward the group, causing them to scatter. Everyone made it away safely, and the fire slowed, allowing a man with a water truck to dampen the perimeter of the house just in time to save it from the blaze.

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency for Kittitas and Yakima counties in response to the blaze. That provided air support from the Washington National Guard.