Western wildfires force thousands to flee

Firefighters are battling wildfires across the West today as thousands of residents in California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado fled their homes ahead of rapidly advancing flames. The biggest conflagrations are centered in California, where 5,000 firefighters are struggling to contain 15 outbreaks. One of the most widespread has burned nearly 4 square miles of grassy foothills in the Sierra Nevada, about 60 miles north of Sacramento. Three more fires are burning in Southern California, two in Santa Barbara County and one in San Luis Obispo County. Officials know homes have been destroyed across the state but have yet to provide an official count. In rural Arizona, officials evacuated the entire town of Dudleyville, about 100 miles southeast of Phoenix. A smaller fire near Breckenridge, Colo., is about 50 percent contained and hasn’t grown since Wednesday. Fires also are burning across the border in Canada, where 200 blazes are plaguing British Columbia.