One of dozens of fires across the western US raced out of a canyon in South Dakota's Black Hills "with a vengeance," killing a homeowner and destroying 27 homes, authorities said.
Residents of about 50 homes had fled the wildfire near Hot Springs, which also injured two firefighters and closed a section of a state highway, state and federal officials said on Sunday. An area of roughly 23km2 has burned since the fire was sparked on Saturday by lightning.
One person was killed while trying to retrieve possessions from a home. The identity of the person was withheld until relatives could be notified, authorities said.
PHOTO: AP
"This thing blew up because of extreme hot temperatures and the winds," said Joe Lowe, state wildland fire coordinator. "It came out of the canyon with a vengeance."
High wind near Wenatchee, Washington, overnight spread a brush fire that threatened homes. By Sunday morning, 250 to 270 homes had been evacuated, and at least three outbuildings were destroyed.
In fire-swept Nevada, about 1,500 evacuees from Winnemucca were allowed back to their home hours after a wildfire destroyed an electrical substation and several outbuildings, shut down the interstate highway, delayed trains, and killed livestock. No injuries were reported.
In Utah, the largest wildfire in state history grew to 114,500 hectares on Sunday. The blaze has swept through about 1,144m2 of extremely dry sagebrush, cheat grass and pinion juniper in central Utah.
A fire in Arizona burned at the base of a mountain that is home to several expensive telescopes. A spokesman at Kitt Peak told KSAZ-TV that he was concerned but not alarmed. Tankers were dropping retardant between the fire and the observatory, the station reported.
Other fires blackened the rural landscape in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
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