News In Brief

Fire sweeps 100,000 acres of Montana prairie and forest

Scores of fires raged out of control across dry, wind-swept prairies and forests Tuesday, with no break in the hot, gusty weather, after charring about 100,000 acres, destroying more than 30 houses, and forcing hundreds to flee. The fire began Aug. 19 on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation.

Officials were unsure what caused many of the blazes, but they believed some were sparked by lightning last week and fanned to life by recent winds.