Wildfires plague the West amid a scorching heat wave and high winds

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — At least half a dozen homes are in ruins after one of many dangerous wildfires in the West suddenly swept into a Southern California neighborhood during a blistering heat wave. Six homes were ravaged when the fire sparked by fireworks erupted Sunday in Riverside, east of Los Angeles. Seven other structures were damaged. More than two dozen fires are also burning in the Pacific Northwest and Idaho including a new one moving fast in high winds on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. Authorities also evacuated the eastern Oregon town of Huntington, and temporarily closed a stretch of Interstate 84 late Sunday after thunderstorms caused a massive smoke column to collapse.