Ananova:

One of dozens of fires across the western United States raced out of a canyon in South Dakota's Black Hills "with a vengeance", killing one person and destroying 27 homes, authorities said.

Residents of about 50 homes had fled the wildfire near Hot Springs, which also injured two firefighters and closed a section of a state highway, state and federal officials said. An area of roughly nine square miles has burned since the fire was sparked on Saturday by lightning.

One person was killed trying to retrieve possessions from a home.

The person's identity was withheld until relatives could be notified, authorities said.

"This thing blew up because of extreme hot temperatures and the winds," said Joe Lowe, state wildland fire coordinator. "It came out of the canyon with a vengeance."

High wind near Wenatchee, Washington, spread a brush fire that threatened homes. By Sunday morning, 250 to 270 homes had been evacuated, and at least three outbuildings were destroyed.

In fire-swept Nevada, about 1,500 evacuees from Winnemucca were allowed home hours after a wildfire destroyed an electrical substation and several outbuildings, shut down the interstate highway, delayed trains, and killed livestock. No injuries were reported.

In Utah, the largest wildfire in state history grew to 283,000 acres on Sunday.

The blaze has swept through about 442 square miles of extremely dry sagebrush, cheat grass and pinion juniper in central Utah.

Other fires blackened the landscape in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.