Notable Idaho Stories of 2013

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — National wildfire forecasters on May 1 said drought and spring warming trend were potent harbingers of a dangerous summer across Idaho and the West.

The state got all it bargained for, with blazes torching mountain hamlets, charring more than 1,000 square miles and chasing thousands from resort towns as flames licked at city limits. The worst wildfire season in more than a half-decade is among The Associated Press's top Idaho stories of 2013, but was by no means the only big issue.

Others included Boise State coach Chris Petersen taking a job in Washington, prosecutors charging an Uzbek refugee with terrorism, fraud allegations at Idaho's privately-run prison — and federal agents who descended on Idaho's wilderness where they shot a man accused of killing two people and abducting a third.