Wildfires in 4 states kill 5, force thousands from homes

Deadly wildfires have consumed more than one million acres in Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Peet says winds of more than 55 miles per hour fanned the flames. There are three wildfires in this complex: Starbuck, Selman, and the 283 fires. The victims are Cody Crockett, 20, Sydney Wallace, 22, and Sloan Everett, Gray County Judge Richard Peet told CNN.

A 63-year-old woman in Oklahoma also died from circumstances surrounding a 125,000-acre fire in that state.

Four people died overnight Monday from large fires in Grayson County and Lipscomb County, west and northwest of Amarillo, according to the Amarillo Globe-News.

A bridge in Meade County also was reported destroyed.

The three were among five people killed by wildfires in the Texas Panhandle as fires continue to scorch swaths of the Southwest and Great Plains. He says she died of smoke inhalation.

Airtankers out of Amarillo and Abiliene assisted in putting out the fire. The release says risky fire conditions are expected to continue through Wednesday. Two-thousand firefighters and nine helicopters are working to control the blazes, which ranged from 9 percent to 90 percent contained.

Counties included in the declaration range from the Panhandle across the northern tier of the state from north-western to north-eastern Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Forestry Service spokeswoman Suzanne McCombs said those fires remained uncontained as of Wednesday.

Wildfires have claimed the lives of as many as seven people across multiple states in the central USA, consuming as many as one million acres.

As of 11:30 p.m. Monday night, all roads were open in Woodward County and all evacuation orders had expired, according to the Woodward County Department of Homeland Defense & Civil Security. At the last report, it was 60% contained.

In Kansas, wind-blown fires blazed in 21 counties over the course of Monday, with rural fire crews struggling to keep up, The Wichita Eagle reported.

That fire started in Oklahoma, and has burned 548 square miles so far.

Firefighters from Lipscomb, Hemphill and Roberts counties continue to battle a fire that has burned over 290,000 acres. Nearly 200 cattle were killed in the blaze.

Three schools were evacuated because of the fire on Monday but no one took advantage of a Red Cross shelter set up for potential evacuees.