North Dakota Town Destroyed by Wild Fire

From the Daily Mail:

A small town in North Dakota has been wiped off the map overnight by a devastating wildfire which whipped through the landscape with the help of 70mph winds.

By Thursday morning, the 27 residents of Bucyrus had been forced to abandon their homes and take refuge in surrounding communities.

Miraculously, no one was hurt in the blaze, but Adams County state's attorney Aaron Roseland described the town as 'pretty much completely lost'.

The county commission chairman said the fire destroyed four homes and two abandoned farms in the town about 60 miles south of Dickinson.

Chuck Christman said seven structures, a church and a grain elevator were spared from the blaze that was pushed by the high winds. The town's only business, a picture-framing shop, was destroyed, while trees and buildings including homes still smoldered on Thursday, he said.

Mr Christman said the blaze scorched an area six miles long and half a mile wide and also downed about 50 power poles and set railroad ties on a nearby train track ablaze.