Farmers rushed to save their livelihoods as a wildfire roared through vast Oregon wheat fields Thursday and crushed their hopes at the peak of what was expected to be one of the most bountiful harvests in years.

Farmers used water tanks on the backs of pickup trucks and tractors to battle flames whipping across fields for the third straight day.

One man was found dead near his charred tractor Wednesday, apparently overrun as he tried to clear a strip of land to protect a neighbor's property.