Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

NORTH TEXAS (AP / CBS 11 NEWS) ― Wildfires have killed at least three people, destroyed dozens of homes and scorched more than 100,000 acres of drought-parched Texas, but the high winds that had fanned the flames were easing Friday.

Montague County Sheriff Paul Cunningham said a couple died when fire overtook their home near Montague and a woman died after calling for an ambulance in a fire near Bowie, possibly from a heart attack.

Montague County about 55 miles northwest of Fort Worth along the border of Oklahoma -- where wildfires also were raging -- was battling five separate blazes Friday. Dozens of homes were destroyed, several in the small towns of Sunset and Stoneburg, as a total of 30,000 acres were burning in the county.

"We've lost communities, pretty much," Cunningham said. "Stoneburg is pretty much gone."

WFAA-TV identified the dead couple as former WFAA reporter Matt Quinn and his wife, Cathy. The station reported their adult son, Chris, was in fair condition with burns at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

The National Weather Service said there was a high fire danger in the North Texas area Friday due to dry conditions and wind gusts up to 25 mph. That's down considerably from the 60-mph gusts that fanned the flames Thursday and created an extreme danger of fire.

"Things are starting to look a little better," Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Misty Wilburn said. "Today the Texas Forest Service is definitely on the offense, not on the defense."

It's been an especially hard week for Otis Baird, of Wise County.  His wife died Monday.  Thursday, the fires took his house. 

Baird could only save his two dogs and his pickup.  Nearly everything else he owned, including pictures of his wife, is either gone or heavily damaged.

Her funeral was today, and he wasn't yet ready to go back to the remains of their home.  "He's just too distraught to be here," said his nephew, Jody Baird.  "He's had more put on him in the last week than any human being were to go through."

Throughout Sunset, a town of about 350 located in an area of small, rolling hills, buildings were destroyed in a seemingly random fashion. Some houses were blackened and burned to the ground, while others remained standing where residents scrambled to save their homes with garden hoses.

Fire Chief Alan Campbell said the high winds Thursday were sending embers flying, resulting in the patchwork of fires.

Tim Gortney was out of town when the fire swept in, but his home was untouched thanks to neighbors who fought the blaze. His mother-in-law who lives next door wasn't so lucky.

Linda Freeman, 64, was returning from her job at a nursing home Thursday night when she saw the thick smoke everywhere and was told she needed to evacuate. She hurriedly grabbed a few pictures then went to her son's house about 10 miles away where "he turned on the news and I saw my home burning."

Friday, steel stairs that used to lead to her mobile home's front door were all that remained. Next to the stairs, the blackened hulk was so thoroughly burned that it was difficult to identify any personal items.

"Everything she ever worked for is right there," Gortney said, pointing to the rubble. "It took her 60-something years to get it and about 20 minutes to lose it."

Nine homes were destroyed in Sunset, Campbell said.

Wilburn said some of the fires around the state had been contained by Friday, but she didn't have precise figures.

The efforts were helped Friday by the diminished winds, which precluded aerial firefighting Thursday.

While several fires were still burning, Wilburn identified four areas as the most dangerous: Montague County, Young and Jack counties in West Texas, Wichita County and Stephens County.

The Young and Jack counties fire, which had destroyed at least seven homes and 35 other structures, was burning 28,000 acres and about 30 percent contained Friday. Wilburn said more than 100 homes had been evacuated.

The Wichita County fire near Electra was about 4,500 acres but 75 percent contained by Friday. It destroyed one agriculture company's buildings and warehouses, Sheriff David Duke said. About 800 residents and a nursing home were evacuated, but they were allowed to return home by Thursday evening.

In Stephens County, residents near Breckenridge were evacuated Thursday when a 3,200-acre fire threatened an apartment complex, according to the Texas Forest Service. It was 75 percent contained by Friday, Wilburn said.

More than 93 percent of Texas was in some stage of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday.

Three years ago, large grass fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres in the same part of North Texas and virtually destroyed the Montague County town of Ringgold.

The Centers for Disease Control says smoke from brush fires can cause respiratory problems. Doctors say it usually starts with coughing and a scratchy throat.

Physicians say patients with lung and heart disease, older adults, young children and smokers should stay indoors. Those who have their asthma under control should pre-treat with an inhaler if they are going to be outside. Click here for more information from the CDC.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)