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A sheriff’s deputy has died trying to help people flee devastating wildfires in Texas, officials said.

Firefighters have been working to contain a sprawling complex in central West Texas that has grown to more than 45,000 acres in Eastland County and several neighboring counties.

Eastland County Deputy Barbara Fenley lost her life while helping to save people as the Eastland Complex swept through the area Thursday night, authorities said.

Fenley was going door to door to evacuate people when the fires spread into Carbon on Thursday, according to a statement from the Eastland County Sheriff’s Office shared by Eastland County Today.

“With the extreme deteriorating conditions and low visibility from smoke, Sgt. Fenley ran off the roadway and was engulfed in the fire,” the statement said. “She will be deeply missed.”

Fenley, 51, had been a deputy with the sheriff’s office since 2013, having previously served as the chief of police in Gorman, Texas. She is survived by her husband and three children.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott commemorated the loss at the top of a press briefing on the wildfires Friday evening at the Eastland Fire Department.

“We are sorrowful for her loss of life, but as a state, we have great appreciation for her service, for stepping up, for doing what Texas law enforcement officials do every single day,” Abbott said. “They put their lives on the line to preserve and to protect their communities. And that’s exactly what she did.”

Flags were lowered to half-staff in Eastland in honor of Fenley, who will be officially honored at a later date, Abbott said.

“She paid the ultimate sacrifice just to help people out, and I think that’s the biggest thing that’d I like people to know,” her son, Jon Fenley, told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA in an emotional interview.

The deputy was fondly remembered by her law enforcement colleagues.

“It is with very heavy hearts that today we learned of the death of one [of] our Eastland County Deputies who put it all on the line last night trying to save people from the horrible fires,” the Cisco Police Department said in a statement Friday. “Our sister Barbara Fenley will be deeply missed. She was a special servant and an attribute to our profession. We will kneel in prayer for her family, friends and colleagues as they mourn.”

The Lubbock Police Department offered its “deepest condolences” to the Eastland County Sheriff’s Office.

“Fenley gave her life trying to evacuate citizens from the Eastland Complex fires, which first-responders in the area are still battling,” the department said in a statement. “Thank you for your service, Deputy Fenley, we’ll take it from here.”

Fenley was found Friday morning in the town of Carbon, which has been devastated by the fires, officials said.

“It looks like some kind of lunar landscape,” Eastland County Judge Rex Fields told reporters Friday. “It’s just an amazing amount of devastation.”

Fields said they haven’t found anyone else who is missing, and that first responders will do a “more intensive sweep” with canines in the town.

Four wildfires that ignited Wednesday and Thursday combined into the Eastland Complex, which as of Friday night was estimated to have burned 45,383 acres and was 15% contained.

“One message that I would like to exaggerate and express is that we are not out of danger yet for our high hazard fire risk,” Eastland County Fire Chief Joe Williamson said during Friday’s briefing.

Dry, windy conditions helped fuel the complex and hinder the air response to fight the complex, which was 13,000 acres by Thursday evening.

At least 48 fire departments from 22 different counties across the state have responded to help fight the wildfires, Abbott said.

“When you have a fire this large in this many different areas, you need all the help that you can get,” the governor said.

The wildfires have destroyed at least 50 homes in Eastland, Brown and Comanche counties, Abbott said.

“Probably as we are able to better surveil damages here in the coming days, we will find more than that,” he said, warning that there is ongoing danger due to the dry and windy conditions.

Abbott said Friday he will sign a disaster proclamation to assist 11 counties that are either currently affected or that may be impacted by wildfires.

In addition to the Eastland Complex, first responders are working to contain three other active fires in Reagan, Sterling and Runnels counties.

ABC News’ Mike Noble contributed to this report.

Search and rescue teams in Norway are looking for a missing American MV-22 Osprey aircraft that was taking part in a large NATO military exercise in northern Norway Friday.

There were four Marines aboard the aircraft, Norwegian officials said.

“We can confirm an incident has occurred involving a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft,” Maj. Jim Stenger, a U.S. Marine Corps spokesperson said in a statement. “The aircraft was conducting training in Norway as part of Exercise COLD RESPONSE 22 at the time of the incident.”

Stenger said the incident remains under investigation.

The Second Marine Expeditionary Force later issued a statement confirming it was aware of “a mishap” with an Osprey assigned to its command.

Currently there are 3,000 U.S. Marines in northern Norway participating in the Cold Response 22 NATO exercise that is described as one of the largest NATO exercises since the end of the Cold War. There are 30,000 troops total participating in this year’s exercise.

Held every two years, the exercise was planned long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and helps to train multinational NATO forces in how to operate in the Arctic.

Norway’s Armed Forces and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway issued statements Friday confirming they were conducting a search for a missing Osprey aircraft that had failed to land at its destination.

“The Osprey belongs to the U.S. Marine Corps and is taking part in the Norwegian military exercise Cold Response in Norway,” said the statement from Forsvaret, Norway’s armed forces. “The aircraft has a crew of four and was out on a training mission in Nordland County, northern Norway on Friday 18 March 2022.”

The statement said the Osprey was en route to Bodø, where it was scheduled to land just before 6 p.m. local time and was reported missing at 6:26 p.m. local time with its last known position being south of Bodø.

Search and rescue aircraft were launched but weather conditions in the area are described as “challenging and are expected to get worse.” An apparent crash site south of Bodø was located from the air three hours later.

“Due to the weather conditions, it has not been possible to enter the site from the air,” said the Norwegian armed forces statement. “Police and rescue crews are now on their way into the area.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Concerns in the U.S. over the wellbeing of Brittney Griner are growing as Russia extends the pre-trial detention of the WNBA star. The extension comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia media reported on Thursday that Griner’s pre-trial detention was extended until May 19 by the Khimki court of the Moscow region. The two-time Olympic gold medalist faces drug charges for allegedly smuggling hashish oil last month into Russia.

Griner, a Houston native, faces up to ten years in prison, according to Russian media reports.

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Tex., whose district includes parts of Houston, has called for the athlete’s release and told Nightline in an interview on Thursday that she wrote a letter to President Joe Biden and met with him regarding Griner’s case.

“I did write a letter to the president of the United States and met with him on this issue of Ms. Griner, again recognizing the need for privacy and respect of our family members, and the need for a genuine support from across the nation,” Jackson-Lee said.

“But I feel that the government is aware and ready to move on helping Brittney. And we are encouraging, as a member of Congress, to have the government move as swiftly, as profoundly, as strongly as it can do – without, in any way, undermining what is best for Brittney,” the congresswoman added.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement Friday demanding access to Griner.

“We are closely engaged on this case and in frequent contact with Brittney Griner’s legal team. We insist the Russian government provide consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, including those in pre-trial detention, as Brittney Griner is,” it said.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told ABC News Live on Thursday that U.S. officials have been in “constant contact” with Griner’s legal team, but are “concerned” because officials from the U.S. embassy in Moscow have been unable to meet with the WNBA star since her detention to “evaluate the conditions … in which she is being detained and to provide all forms of support.”

“The Russians have not yet permitted us to do so,” Price said. “The Russians are obligated to permit, to allow this type of consular access under the Vienna Convention. We’re going to continue to insist that they allow us access to Brittney Griner just as we be permitted access to all Americans who are detained in Russia.”

The extension of Griner’s detention comes during a volatile time for U.S.-Russia relations as Russian President Vladimir Putin escalates attacks on Ukraine.

Biden held a video call with Chinese China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday amid concerns that China could help Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. also imposed a wave of new sanctions on Russia, including personal sanctions on Putin and some of his close associates, but has continued to oppose a no-fly zone and the deployment of U.S. troops to fight Russia in Ukraine.

Biden labeled Putin a “war criminal” during a press conference at the White house on Wednesday amid a State Department review of whether the U.S. considers Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians a war crime. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that he personally believes war crimes have been committed in Ukraine.

Rep. Jackson-Lee said that the conflict between the U.S. and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine should not impact Griner’s chances of being released.

“You know, there are international protocols that should be held in spite of conflicts,” the congresswoman said.

“This is a major conflict. This is a major act of violence. This is an invasion. Brittney Griner had nothing to do with that,” she added.

Griner was detained in Russia in mid-February at a Moscow area airport for allegedly having vape cartridges in her luggage containing hashish oil — an illegal substance in Russia, the Russian Federal Customs Service announced earlier this month.

Although RFCS initially did not reveal Griner’s name, she was identified on video released by Russian officials showing her going through security at the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow.

“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told ABC News in a statement on March 5. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”

Griner is a seven-time WNBA All-Star, who has been playing for the Phoenix Mercury since 2013 and was reportedly in Russia to play basketball in an overseas league.

The Phoenix Mercury said in a statement on March 5 that the team is in contact with Griner’s family, representatives and the WNBA and are closely monitoring her case.

“We love and support Brittney and at this time our main concern is her safety, physical and mental health, and her safe return home,” the Phoenix Mercury said.

The WNBA expressed support for Griner, saying in a statement earlier this month that she has the league’s “full support and our main priority is her swift and safe return to the United States.”

ABC News’ Conor Finnegan, Libby Cathey, Kandis Mascall, Matthew Fuhrman, Miles Cohen and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.

In a high-stakes video call, President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping spoke Friday morning for an hour and 50 minutes for the first time since November amid concerns that China will help Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Nearly four hours after the call ended, and hours after China put out its own version of events, the White House released a readout of the meeting. While lacking concrete details, the 164-word U.S. account stressed that Biden made clear the “implications and consequences” if China aligns with Russia and provides it “material support” for its attacks.

“President Biden detailed our efforts to prevent and then respond to the invasion, including by imposing costs on Russia. He described the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia as it conducts brutal attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilians,” the White House said.

A readout from China, released ahead of the White House’s, described the call as “constructive” — a word the Biden administration did not use.

On a call with reporters, a senior administration official described the call as “direct,” “substantive,” and “detailed,” adding that Biden and Xi spend the “preponderance of their time” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The official said Biden “really wasn’t making specific requests of China” on this call. Instead, he was “laying out his assessment of the situation, what he thinks makes sense, and the implications of certain actions.”

Not going beyond the paper readout, the official would not say whether Biden laid out the specific consequences China would face if they give Russia any assistance but said he did make “clear” that there would be consequences “for those who step in to support Russia at this time.”

According to China’s readout, Xi told Biden the “situation in Ukraine has developed to such a point that China does not want to see it. China has always advocated peace and opposed war.”

But China has yet to directly condemn Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

China supports negotiations, Xi said, but deferred to the U.S. and NATO to “conduct dialogue with Russia to solve the crux of the Ukraine crisis and resolve the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine” — appearing to reaffirm China’s view that the NATO expansion is the root cause of the war.

The readout said Xi’s used two Chinese idioms to Biden: “One hand cannot clap,” meaning the two sides need to come together to make any progress in ending the war, and, he said, “Only the one who tied the bell to the tiger can untie it,” implying that the U.S. and NATO will need to “untie the bell” themselves, and China will support efforts.

China’s president also criticized U.S. sanctions saying that it is the common people who suffer from them and that sanctions have the potential of triggering crises in the global economy, according to the readout

White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said Biden would be candid and that the call provided a chance for him to “assess where President Xi stands.” The conversation would center on “managing the competition between our two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and other issues of mutual concern,” according to the White House.

Biden was expected to warn Xi that if China directly helps Russia in its assault on Ukraine there will be consequences — but it’s still unclear if he laid out specific actions the U.S. will take if China were to supply Russia with military equipment or economic assistance to offset the impact of global sanctions.

In what appeared to be a warning shot to the West, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that any foreign supplies to Ukraine containing military equipment will be considered “legitimate targets” for Russian strikes after Biden announced this week a slate of weapons the U.S. is supplying to Ukraine.

“We clearly said that any cargo moving into the Ukrainian territory which we would believe is carrying weapons would be fair game. This is clear because we are implementing the operation the goal of which is to remove any threat to the Russian Federation coming from the Ukrainian soil,” Lavrov said in an English-language interview with the RT television channel.

Ukrainians woke up Friday to the first strike on the outskirts city of Lviv, considered a safe haven until now, and not far from the Polish border. It follows a stark warning from the Pentagon that Russia was broadening its target and escalating attacks this week.

While the Biden administration has hesitated from drawing red lines of what would change its position on not supporting a no-fly zone or troops on the ground in Ukraine, Lavrov’s message raises concerns that Russia could fire at military bases in neighboring NATO ally Poland to Ukraine, triggering an Article 5 response.

Earlier this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan had a seven-hour meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Rome, which was described as “intense.” A senior Biden administration declined to tell reporters whether China had expressed an openness to providing Russia with military or economic support or if it had already provided support to Russia since it invaded Ukraine.

“We do have deep concerns about China’s alignment with Russia at this time, and the national security adviser was direct about those concerns and the potential implications and consequences of certain actions,” the official said.

That meeting had been “long-planned” and “long-discussed” as a way to maintain communication with China, but it happened to take place at “a really timely and important moment in this crisis,” the official added.

Biden and Xi’s critical call comes on the heels of Biden labeling Putin a “war criminal,” a “murderous dictator,” and a “pure thug” in the last 48 hours. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday he “personally” agrees with Biden that Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine.

ABC News’ Karson Yiu, Ben Gittleson, Conor Finnegan, Justin Gomez and Anastasia Bagaeva contributed to this report.

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