The Nation : Scores Flee Fire in Hawaii

Firefighters battled to contain a wind-whipped brush fire on Hawaii Island that destroyed six beach homes and forced several hundred people to flee--the worst of 760 wildfires that have erupted this week in seven Western states. In Hawaii, the fire that had started at the north end of the Puako area in South Kohala quickly swept to the southern end, a Hilo Fire Department spokeswoman said, gutting the six homes and damaging others. In all, wildfires reportedly have burned more than 13,000 acres in the West since Monday, including two in Alaska that had consumed more than 3,100 acres.