US wildfires destroy hundreds of homes

Firefighters have moved across a mountaintop resort dotted with charred foundations to dig lines around houses spared by the initial rampage of a wildfire that destroyed about 250 homes near Tucson, Arizona.

Winds up to 60mph drove the fire through dry pine country and up the streets of Summerhaven – which had an estimated 700 homes and cabins and a handful of businesses before the blaze – in about an hour, reducing some homes to smoking rubble while leaving others untouched.