Wildfire destroys 300 homes in Texas

Bastrop: A wildfire burning near Austin, Texas, destroyed about 300 homes, forced the evacuation of many others and was advancing unchecked through parched ranchland along a 16-mile front, authorities said. The fire had blackened more than 5,334 meter since it started on Sunday and was the largest of the dozens burning in the drought-stricken state.

It was headed away from the state capital, some 48 kilometers to the northwest, and consuming the water-starved woods and brush with such ferocity that it was deemed unsafe to fight from the ground, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Jan Amen said.

"It's a monster and it's zero percent contained," Amen said.

Instead, the state deployed its firefighting air fleet, including National Guard helicopters and four heavy tanker planes. It also summoned a tanker from South Dakota. Emergency shelters were set up for those forced to evacuate their homes. About 30 people spent the night at a Bastrop church, waiting to learn if they had lost everything.

Texas is enduring its worst drought since the 1950s, and the wildfire threat has been exacerbated by powerful wind gusts cast off by Tropical Storm Lee, hundreds of miles to the east. The blaze near Bastrop among at least 63 that had started Sunday or yesterday.