West Texas wildfires scorch 80,000 acres; 1 death

Wildfires sweeping across West Texas have destroyed dozens of homes and forced hundreds of evacuations, and heavy smoke is being blamed for a fatal eight-vehicle accident.

The Texas Forest Service reported late Sunday that fires have blackened nearly 88,000 acres and destroyed 58 homes from the Texas Panhandle to the southern plains.

Agency fire operations chief Mark Stanford says gusty winds fueling the fires aren't expected to diminish overnight.

The largest fire burned 30,000 acres northeast of Amarillo, destroying 27 homes. The only injury reported was a firefighter who suffered second-degree burns during a blaze near Colorado City, about 240 miles west of Dallas.

Heavy smoke from a wildfire near Midland shrouded a local highway and was blamed for the accident that killed a 5-year-old girl. Two others were injured.