Firefighters marked burned-out buildings with spray-painted orange X's as they searched for bodies Wednesday after &to=http://english.pravda.ru/region/2002/09/10/36241.html' target=_blank>wildfires killed at least four people and destroyed about 100 homes across drought-stricken &to=http://english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/07/27/33295.html' target=_blank>Texas and Oklahoma.
The hardest-hit community during Tuesday's blazes was Cross Plains, a West Texas ranching and oil-and-gas town of 1,000 people some 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Dallas. It lost about 50 homes and a church. One person was killed and at least three were unaccounted for after the flames raced through brush dried out by the region's worst drought in 50 years.
"We had a tornado here years ago and we thought that was devastating. This lasted for hours and hours," said Patricia Cook, a special education aide whose home was saved by her 18-year-old son, J.D., and a friend. They saw the flames approaching the house from across a field and ran to save it.
"The fire was literally nipping at their heels," she said. "He just picked up the hose and started watering things down."
The fire spared a town landmark, the nearly century-old house _ now a museum _ of Robert E. Howard, author of the "Conan the Barbarian" books.
Firefighters and state officers went door to door in a search for victims, reports AP.
O.Ch.
Speak the truth and shame the devil on Pravda.ru forum
Moderate earthquake hits Indonesia
Forum
STATISTICS
Source: 
