Notre Dame basilica spire falls in storm

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A powerful storm toppled a small spire from the University of Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart and left more than 16,000 people without power Wednesday.

One person died when a tree fell on his car.

At Notre Dame, one of four smaller spires that surround the basilica's main spire fell about 60 feet to the ground, bringing with it some bricks and mortar. No one was injured.

"That's a fairly significant amount of damage to one of the university's most important landmarks," spokesman Dennis Brown said. Several large trees on campus also were damaged, he said.

The Tuesday evening storm brought heavy rain and wind up to 70 mph to LaPorte and St. Joseph counties, the
National Weather Service said. Several people reported seeing funnel clouds, and the weather service was trying to confirm whether any tornadoes touched down.

There were reports of trees falling on cars and homes across northern Indiana and into Ohio and Michigan, meteorologist Patrick Murphy (news, bio, voting record) said. The storm initially knocked out power to 52,000 customers of Northern Indiana Public Service Co. About 16,000 customers, most in Gary and Portage, remained without electricity Wednesday, the company said.

Thousands evacuated as New Jersey wildfire spreads

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A wildfire raged across the northeastern US state of New Jersey on Wednesday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate in the latest in a series of such blazes to strike the United States this month.

The fire spread through a nature reserve area in the southern part of the state overnight after being ignited when an F-16 jet fighter on a routine training mission dropped a flare on dry pinelands.

The warplane had been practicing the use of a self-defense system in which flares are fired as decoys to mislead heat-seeking missiles, a spokesman for the New Jersey National Guard told the New York Times.

Around 2,500 people had to be evacuated from their homes and as many as 13,500 acres (5,400 hectares) of land were torched, a New Jersey fire official told a news conference.

"We still have a lot of work to do with the fire. We need to get containment around the perimeter," he said.

"This fire will not be out until mother nature puts it out with a really good rainstorm," he said, adding that firefighters had only about 10 percent of the fire contained by morning.

Fires last week tore through California and Florida, forcing mass evacuations and burning hundreds of thousands of acres but causing no casualties.

Hundreds more flee as fire rages

Firefighters pushed back Tuesday against a massive wildfire along the Florida-Georgia border that jumped a containment line and forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.

Thunderstorms were forecast for most of the state today, but firefighters worried they would not be enough.

"It is so hot and dry, there is no moisture whatsoever, and the winds are our biggest concern," said Nina Barrow, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman at the fire command center at Olustee, Fla.

Steady winds off the water were forecast to continue today.

Approximately 725 homes have been evacuated in the Florida border area, but firefighters have managed to keep the flames from destroying any structures, the U.S. Forest Service said.

The latest evacuations began Monday night after the fire line was breached, threatening homes west of U.S. 441, Barrow said.

The blaze raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into Florida after being started by lightning more than a week ago. By late Tuesday, the fire had burned approximately 250,000 acres — much of it swamp and timber owned by the federal government, state governments and lumber companies.

"It's a lot of swampland in there on the Georgia side," said Marlette Lacey, spokeswoman for the Joint Fire Information Center at a command center at Waycross, Ga. "It makes it harder to get to, to try and contain."

The fire has consumed 110,500 acres in Florida, where it is 50% contained, fire officials said. In Georgia, where nearly 140,000 acres have burned, the fire remains only 15% contained, Lacey said.

Smoke lifted enough to open Interstates 10 and 75 in Florida. Drivers were warned that periodic closures were possible.

The dry gusts of wind have whipped up other fires. The National Interagency Fire Center reported seven active fires in Georgia, burning 283,617 acres, and 14 in Florida, burning 179,608 acres.

Thousands of firefighters were battling the blazes, aided by helicopters and tanker airplanes dropping water and fire retardant.

Winds were blowing smoke to the west, where it was visible in Montgomery, Ala., and beyond, said Scott Unger, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Other wildfires were keeping firefighters busy across the country. One fire has burned 117 square miles in northern Minnesota and Canada, destroying more than 100 cabins and other small structures.

In New Jersey, a wildfire started by a jet flare burned 11,000 acres of woodlands, forced thousands of people from their homes and closed down major roadways, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

Kryn Westhoven, a spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs, said the fire was caused by a flare dropped from an F-16 fighter on a training mission.

"Usually they burn out before they hit the ground; this one didn't," Westhoven said.

Residents from several developments in Ocean County, including several senior housing complexes in Barnegat, were evacuated.