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Four dead in grass fires

CROSS PLAINS (Texas): Firefighters marked burned-out buildings with spray-painted orange X's as they searched for bodies on Wednesday after wildfires killed at least four persons and destroyed about 100 homes across drought-stricken Texas and Oklahoma. The hardest-hit community during Tuesday's blazes was Cross Plains, a West Texas ranching and oil-and-gas town of 1,000 persons some 240 km from Dallas. It lost about 50 homes and a church. One person was killed and at least three were unaccounted for after the flames raced through brush dried out by the region's worst drought in 50 years. ``We had a tornado here years ago and we thought that was devastating. This lasted for hours and hours,'' said Patricia Cook, a education aide whose home was saved by her son, J.D., and a friend. — AP

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Four dead in grass fires

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