Hundreds of people are being driven from their homes in northern Nevada by a rapidly advancing, 8,000-acre wildfire, the AP reports. The blaze has reached the outskirts of the town of Winnemucca. "It's right up to the south edge," says one official. The blaze is just one of a dozen that have scorched 55 acres in the northern part of the state.
As a heat wave settled over the West, other fires raged in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. In Utah, a 160,000-acre blaze crossed a highway, forcing the closure of 100 miles of interstate highway. Nevada's biggest wildfire, covering 36 square miles, was only 10 percent contained as of yesterday. (More firefighters stories.)