About 60,000 people ordered to evacuate as wildfires threaten U.S. Spokane area

About 60,000 people have been ordered to evacuate by Sunday as three fast-moving wildfires threatened Spokane and nearby communities in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington, local officials said.

Officials estimated that at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures had been destroyed. No deaths or injuries had been reported, and no one was known to be unaccounted for as of Sunday afternoon. The fires spread rapidly on Saturday amid strong winds, high temperatures and extremely dry vegetation.

State officials said more than 250,000 acres were burning across Washington as about 4,000 firefighters battled more than a dozen major wildfires.