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Winds drive fires scorching parts of Texas, Okla.

Gusting winds and dry conditions fueled wildfires across Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday, destroying or damaging homes, forcing evacuations and shutting down parts of a major highway in Oklahoma.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) âÄî Gusting winds and dry conditions fueled wildfires across Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday, destroying or damaging homes, forcing evacuations and shutting down parts of a major highway in Oklahoma. Firefighters were battling a 12.5-square-mile wildfire in Wilbarger County that scorched several businesses west of Electra, Texas Forest Service spokesman Bill Beebe said. The fire also forced schools in Montague and Callahan counties to evacuate. Montague County Judge Ted Winn said as many as 10 fires were raging across northern Texas, where winds were reported at about 60 mph. A fire at Lake Mineral Wells State Park in Parker County that destroyed one home and threatened 50 others was being spread by 40 mph winds, county spokesman Joel Kertok said. Kertok said crews didn’t have control of the fire and firefighting efforts by air were grounded “because the winds are so high.” He said another blaze in four Hudson Oaks subdivisions that destroyed four structures was 90 percent contained, and residents who had been evacuated were allowed to return home. Lewis Kearney, another Forest Service spokesman, said fires also were reported in parts of the north-central Texas counties of Palo Pinto, Hood and Young. More than 93 percent of the state was under some stage of drought, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday. In Oklahoma, wind-whipped grass fires shut down parts of Interstate 35, the state’s main north-south highway, and a blaze in western Oklahoma closed another road. At least 14 homes were damaged or destroyed in Midwest City, an Oklahoma City suburb, and some residents were told to evacuate to a community center, said David Barnes, Oklahoma County’s emergency management director. Purcell city manager Eric Johnson said 12 homes were damaged near Lindsay, about 55 miles south of Oklahoma City, and 20 more were being threatened by a fire burning through brush and grass. In Lincoln County, about 40 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, a firefighter suffered burns and was taken to an Oklahoma City hospital, Chandler Emergency Management Director Larry Hicks said. He said some crews already helping with blazes were being redirected because “there are fires everywhere.” “We’ve got fires breaking out where they’ve already been put out,” he said. Most of the state was under high wind warnings and red flag warnings, which indicate extreme fire danger, and the eastern half of the state was under a tornado watch. Winds were reported at more than 50 mph in Oklahoma City.

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