Wind fans US wildfires

Fighters are battling 23 major wildfires in western Montana

More winds on Sunday threatened to worsen US wildfires that have already reduced hundreds of thousands of acres of forest to ash.

Firefighters expressed fears that the winds, moving at 30mph (50kph), could cause problems for some of the 10,000 people battling the 23 major wildfires in the forests of Montana.

Venetia Gempler of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said: "We are expecting to have a significant growth in fires because of this wind."

Fires in Montana burned an additional 13,000 acres (5,200 hectares) on Saturday as blustery weather swept through the region.

Firestorm

A firestorm in South Dakota's mountainous Black Hills is blamed on wind.

The fire exploded from 30,000 acres on Saturday to an estimated 90,000 acres on Sunday.

More fires expected due to windy weather

Officials said three outbuildings and two homes were damaged.

They said people in the region had been urged to evacuate an area of 300 square miles.

Fire lines along the eastern side of the blaze were being strengthened because a cold front moving into the region was expected to bring north-westerly wind.

Authorities in Montana have put 30 of the state's 56 counties under official use restrictions, meaning people need special permits to use the land.

Wildfires are also raging in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Faced with destruction on such a big scale, the Americans have enlisted the help of 25,000 people including fire crews from as far away as Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.