California fire kills 1 as heat stokes blazes in Western US

A wildfire raging through drought-stricken timber and brush near California's border with Oregon killed one person and destroyed at least a dozen buildings as it burned largely out of control, authorities have said.

No other details were released about the death blamed on the fire that threatened 300 homes near Hornbook, a town of 250 people about 22 kilometres south of the Oregon border. It's not clear how many of the damaged and destroyed buildings were homes and how many were garages, barns or other outbuildings in the rural area.

The so-called Klamathon Fire was one of dozens of blazes across the dry American West, fueled by rising temperatures and gusty winds that were expected to last through the weekend. Heat spreading from Southern California into parts of Arizona, Nevada and Utah threatened to worsen flames that have forced thousands of people to evacuate and destroyed hundreds of homes across the West.

On the California-Oregon border, the fire ignited Thursday and moved swiftly through the region that is home to many retirees, said Ray Haupt, chairman of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors.

"It moved so fast I'm not sure how much time lagged between the evacuation and when it hit Hornbrook," he said. "It hit there pretty quick. We know we've lost homes and lots of structures, including livestock and horses as well."