US northwest wildfires force 65,000 to flee as hundreds of buildings burn in Spokane

Wildfires supercharged by drought and intense heat tore through the northwestern US city of Spokane, forcing the evacuation of 65,000 people and reducing hundreds of buildings to cinders as firefighters raced Monday to contain the flames. Aerial flybys revealed somewhere between 700-1,110 structures have been lost since the fires broke out over the weekend, authorities said. Anxious families awaited news about when they could return. Three fires have combined to burn 8,026 acres (3,248 hectares) in the Spokane area of Washington state according to InciWeb, a federal interagency information system, with firefighters making use of cooler temperatures, higher humidities and thick smoke to make "significant gains" against two of them. Local officials said so far no one has been reported hurt. Cooler temperatures were expected Monday and Tuesday, though the respite will be brief, with a warming trend resuming mid-week that will raise temperatures into the mid to high-90's Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) with relative humidity in the lower teens. Video of the fire aftermath on Sunday showed scores of homes burned to the ground, with only their brick fireplaces and foundations remaining, whi...