Killer Fires in Texas

The AP reports:

GROOM, Texas - Massive wildfires raced across the Texas Panhandle and South Plains early Monday, burning more than half a million acres, leaving at least seven people dead and injuring at least seven more.

Four of the victims were killed in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 40 east of Groom as smoke obscured the road. Three others died in fires near Borger, northeast of Amarillo.

"This is probably one of the biggest fire days in Texas history," said Warren Bielenberg, a spokesman for the Texas Forest Service.

The fires scorched more than 663,000 acres — about two-thirds the size of Rhode Island — far eclipsing the deadly wildfires that prompted Gov. Rick Perry to declare a statewide drought disaster in January.