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1M subject to fire watch as Oklahoma fires continue

Feb. 20 (UPI) — Wildfires have burned more than 300,000 acres in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, and more than a million people in the region were under a fire watch Friday.

No deaths were reported, but several structures have been damaged or destroyed in Oklahoma’s Panhandle, where a 283,000-acre Ranger Road Fire was 20% contained as of Friday morning, KFOR reported. That fire spread into parts of southwestern Kansas.

The Stevens Fire, 12,428 acres, and the Side Road Fire, 3,680 acres, in Oklahoma’s Texas County were 60% and 75% contained, respectively as of Friday morning.

The Poor Farm Fire in Latimer County was 10% contained after burning some 9,000 acres.

Among other significant fires, the 43 Fire in Woodward County has burned 1,680 acres and was 60% contained, while the 1,400-acre Rattlesnake Fire in Osage and Washington counties was only 30% contained.

Other active fires are the 182-acre Hospital Road Fire in Carter County, which was 40% contained; the 242-acre 615 Fire in Cherokee County, which was 70% contained; and the 126-acre Chelsea Fire in Rogers County, which was 60% contained.

Warm, dry and windy conditions in the area triggered the fires, and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday declared states of emergency for Woodward, Beaver and Texas counties.

Many residents have evacuated those counties, and a significant fire danger remains in Texas and Cimarron counties in the Panhandle region.

Local forecasters said cooling temperatures and lessening wind speeds are expected to reduce the threat of the fires spreading, but wind speeds of between 25 mph and 35 mph, with gusts of up to 60 mph, continued on Friday morning.

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Subject in Nancy Guthrie investigation detained

The FBI released new images of a person of interest in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie, on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. File by FBI/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 11 (UPI) — Authorities in Arizona have detained a person in the investigation of missing Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today show host Savannah Guthrie.

The unidentified person was detained by deputies of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, the department said.

“The subject is currently being questioned in connection to the Nancy Guthrie investigation,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

No other information was made immediately public, and the sheriff’s department later added that “no press conference would be scheduled at this time.”

DoorDash, the on-demand delivery platform, said it was “urgently investigating” to see if the detained individual was one of its drivers.

“We have reached out to law enforcement and are ready to support their critical investigation in any way we can,” the technology company said in a social media statement early Wednesday.

“Like tens of millions around the world, our hearts are with the Guthrie family during this heart-wrenching time.”

The development comes as the search for the 84-year-old woman enters its 11th day on Wednesday.

Authorities believe she was kidnapped from her Tucson, Ariz., home on the night of Jan. 31. She was last seen at about 9:45 p.m. MST that night and was reported missing the following day after she failed to arrive at a friend’s house to watch a church livestream. It was previously reported that she was to attend church in person.

Before the unidentified individual was detained on Tuesday, the FBI released images taken from doorbell footage at Guthrie’s front door the morning she disappeared that show a person tampering with the camera.

A $50,000 reward is being offered by the FBI for information leading to Guthrie’s recovery.

The federal law enforcement agency said there has been no contact between Guthrie’s family and the suspected kidnappers, despite a 5 p.m. Monday ransom deadline for them to pay $6 million in Bitcoin having elapsed.

The ransom was reportedly demanded in messages sent to several news outlets and has yet to be authenticated by law enforcement.

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