The Beebe Bridge fire, about 3 miles east of Lake Chelan and the Columbia River in north-central Washington, was estimated at about 70 percent containment Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release.

The fire has burned 4,205 acres in steep and rocky grasslands and threatens 25 homes and 10 outbuildings. About 350 firefighters have been assigned to the fire.

"The wind didn't give us any problems. There weren't any flare-ups, and the crews had a chance to get around the fire," said Nick Mickel, fire information officer. "We made great progress."

A voluntary evacuation remained in effect for about 45 homes, though it remained unclear how many people had actually left the area, fire spokesman Ray Steiger said.

No residences have burned, but five outbuildings were destroyed.

Jack Pickett and his family fled their home Monday night and were surprised to return a day later and find the house still standing. A barn, two storage sheds and a car smoldered nearby.

"We gave a great big 'Praise the Lord!' when we got back," Pickett told The Wenatchee World for a story Wednesday.

Mickel said fire officials planned to release some crews and equipment from the fire on Thursday because of the progress.

Meanwhile, the Pot Peak fire 15 miles west of the lake in the Twenty-Five Mile Creek drainage, was 35 percent contained at 7,200 acres on Wednesday, said Tom Knappenberger, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

"We had some gusting winds last night that caused some fire activity - tested some of the lines on the northeast side," Knappenberger said.

No homes were directly threatened by that blaze although there were 16 homes downstream from the head of the fire, he said.

About 930 people were assigned to the Pot Peak fire, including some elite "hot shot" crews.

There were no reports of serious injuries in either blaze.

Grass and forest land across Washington are already tinder-dry. In a news conference Wednesday, Locke urged residents to use caution.

"The good news is we are making excellent progress on both of these wildfires, but the threat of fire is still very significant, and because of the very arid conditions, very dry conditions, we ask everyone to be as careful as possible to avoid any careless act that could ignite a wildfire in our state - east and west of the mountains," Locke said.

The Freezeout fire near the U.S.-Canadian border in the Pasayten Wilderness remained at 150 acres and 17 percent containment. Fire officials from both countries planned to meet to discuss the fire, which poses a potential threat to resorts and timber in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area and north of the border.

Lightning caused all the fires except the Beebe Bridge blaze, which started Saturday when an owl struck a power line.