Forest fires have seared more than 1million acres (400,000 hectares) across Alaska so far this summer, although cool rains have slowed the blazes in parts of the state's vast interior, officials said. The area burned so far is above average for recent years but not unusual. In 1997, wildfires burned about 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) in Alaska and 3.1 million acres (1.2 million hectares) went up in smoke in 1990.