more than burned timber and towns in their wake.

Government scientists search for foodborne

illnesses at the molecular level.

And a journey from field crops to vineyards through

the bottling of hopes and dreams.

Those stories and market analysis with Naomi Blohm,

next.

Funding for Market to Market is provided by

Grinnell Mutual.

You think differently about a customer when you

stand in the middle of his dreams.

We work to make sure you get covered right.

Grinnell Mutual -- a policy of working

together.

Information on finding an agent near you is

available at grinnellmutual.com.

And by Sukup Manufacturing Company.

Offering a full line of grain drying and storage

equipment and steel buildings, Sukup

Manufacturing is on a mission to protect and

preserve your crop and the tools that produce it.

This is the Friday, August 21 edition of Market to

Market, the Weekly Journal of Rural America.

Hello, I'm Mike Pearson.

Next month the federal government could run out

of money and the Federal Reserve might raise

interest rates.

But this week the stock market stole the show

despite positive economic indicators.

According to the Commerce Department, housing starts

rose 0.2 percent in August - the strongest showing in

more than 7 years.

Data released by the Labor Department revealed the

Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent in July.

When volatile factors like food and energy prices are

removed, Core CPI matched the increase.

But low inflation and declining foreign markets

may sidetrack efforts by the Fed to raise interest

rates.

Even with positive economic news, plunging

overseas markets pushed Wall Street dramatically

lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500

had their worst finishes since October of 2014 with

the Dow sinking 528 points at Friday's close.

While the market appears to be cooling off, the

west continues to burn.

To date, this fire season has charred more acres

than any year in the past decade.

The U.S.

Forest Service has been spending $150 million a

week on the task and will likely devour its entire

firefighting budget by the end of the month.

Bone dry conditions present a clear and

present danger.

And this week, a few who "walk where the devil

dances" lost their own battle in this year's epic

war to protect towns and timber.

The battle against the western wildfires took a

deadly turn this week as three firefighters died

after a vehicle crash trapped them in what was

described as a "hellstorm" of flames.

This brings the death toll to 13 for the year.

The trio were members of the U.S.

Forest Service.

Four other firefighters were injured near the

north-central Washington town of Twisp.

Local officials have urged people in the

outdoor-recreation area to evacuate as wildfires

advanced through the region.

Tinder-dry conditions, high temperatures and

winds combined to fuel the inferno in the Evergreen

State.

One of the biggest fires is near the scenic Cascade

Mountain town of Chelan.

More than 155 square miles in central Washington have

been charred.

Nearly 3,000 people were ordered to evacuate the

area this week.

A major fruit-packer's warehouse in Chelan was

destroyed by fire which contained nearly 2 million

pounds of apples.

Washington is by far the nation's biggest apple

producer.

The amount of fires across the West is taxing crews

as the U.S.

military is being sent in to assist.

Rob Allen, Deputy Incident Commander: "Nationally,

the system is pretty tapped, there is a lot of

fires going on not only here, but in Washington,

in Oregon, Northern California still burning

up.

And things have started to pick up in Idaho, Montana

and Colorado.

Nationally we are at planning level 5.

Everything is being used right now, so competition

for resources is fierce." And the 29,000 fire

fighters in the west could get help from other

countries as they work to contain the nearly 1,000

fires ...

Cooler and calmer weather has given firefighters a

break in California and Idaho.

The massive 443-square mile Soda fire near the

Oregon/Idaho border is nearly contained.

At one point this week, almost 900 firefighters

were battling the blaze over.

Much of the scorched land was used by cattle and

sage grouse.

At least one farmer was seen herding about 200

head of cattle down the road to safety.

The U.S.

has the most abundant and affordable food supply on

earth.

Between the field and the table, the USDA has put

rules in place to protect that bounty.

Occasionally, that supply gets contaminated with

unwanted pathogens that make people ill.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are

responsible for notifying the public when tainted

products make it to grocery store shelves.

According to the CDC, foodborne illness costs

the U.S.

economy nearly $16 billion annually.

But agency scientists are always on the lookout for

new weapons to prevent, find and reduce the size

of the outbreaks.

The nation's top disease detectives are betting

genetic clues could help combat food poisoning

outbreaks.

The Centers for Disease Control says of the

roughly 48 million Americans infected every

year, about three-thousand die of foodborne

illnesses.

Jill Pollack/Silver Spring, Maryland: "I'm

normally very confident in the safety of the food I

am buying.

Certainly if I hear about something in the news I

might be more aware about a particular outbreak."

In the wake of last spring's bacterial

contamination of Blue Bell Creameries ice cream in

Texas, the CDC is expanding a pilot program

to ten states that fights back against potentially

deadly bacteria and viruses by decoding their

DNA.

Listeria, the third-leading cause of

death by food poisoning, and the culprit in the

Lone Star State contamination, is now a

top target in germ fighters' crosshairs.

Dr. Robert Tauxe/Deputy Director - Division of

Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases -

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention:

"By testing the DNA of the bacteria from people all

over the country we may find that people in

totally different places are infected with exactly

the same bacteria.

If we can figure out what it is that they have in

common, and show that yes that was the source of the

infection, we can find an outbreak even when it's

very small."

Armed with $30 million from Congress, the CDC is

taking advantage of faster and cheaper genome

sequencing technology.

In the future, government scientists hope to use the

game-changing approach across the nation to fight

more common bacteria like Salmonella and E.

Coli.

By identifying pathogens early, officials will be

able to warn consumers before widespread

outbreaks develop.

Those suffering under the drought in the West may

receive a reprieve if the predicted El Nino weather

system comes to pass.

And despite the fact that fruit and vegetable

producers continue to worry about where their

next drops of water will come from California wine

grape growers worry a little less.

Production of the specialty crop has been a