One dead as Colorado wildfires rage

As firefighters worked to gain the upper hand Saturday on a massive wildfire outside Colorado Springs that forced thousands to flee, the toll mounted: Nearly 350 homes destroyed, two dozen more damaged and two people dead.

Australia is burning up. The country is in the grip of a record heatwave, which has made conditions ripe for wildfires.  More than 150 fires continue to sweep across southeastern Australia, and in the island state of Tasmania. Around 1.2 million acres have been burned over the past week, according to the AFP. 

President Obama will tour wildfire-ravaged Colorado on Friday, the White House announced Wednesday afternoon. The president called Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach to express his concern, thank the state's firefighters and reiterate his support of the use of federal resources in battling the fires, the White House said. White House [...]

As firefighters gained the upper hand Monday on a fast-moving wildfire in Colorado Springs, many residents began the process of picking up lives interrupted by an inferno that killed two people, destroyed nearly 350 homes and damaged dozens more.

A wind-fueled wildfire of epic proportions breached fire lines Tuesday and entered Colorado Springs, Colorado, bringing to at least 32,000 the number of people evacuated in the area and at the U.S. Air Force Academy, authorities said.

Emergency alerts have been issued for Nordegg and Lodgepole because two separate fires are burning within a few kilometres of each community. The fire near Nordegg, which is 200 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, has been burning for several days and residents have been on a one-hour evacuation notice since Thursday.

DECATUR, Texas (AP) — Investigators from three Colorado police agencies rushed to Texas to determine if a man identified as a parolee, who was critically wounded by Texas police after a harrowing 100-mph car chase, is linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prisons chief.

Firefighters battled scores of wildfires Tuesday in southeastern Australia as authorities evacuated national parks and warned that hot, dry and windy conditions were combining to raise the threat to its highest alert level. Temperatures soared to 45 degrees Celsius in some areas.