Reuters: A wind-whipped Oregon brush fire forced the evacuation of 600 people and shut a highway by Thursday as firefighters struggled against steady winds to tame the growing blaze and tamp down others across the U.S. Pacific Northwest, fire officials said. The so-called Rowena fire, which grew eight-fold overnight to 1,900 acres in the scenic Columbia River Gorge in northern Oregon, led to 275 homes being evacuated by morning. A further 600 residences were on standby for possible evacuation. Overnight,...