Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arizona, N.M. battle wind-fanned fires
LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Over a dozen sizable fires were burning in Arizona and New Mexico, after destroying dozens of homes and as of Saturday charring more than 174 square miles.
Winds that howled Friday remained a concern on Saturday in northern New Mexico where two fires merged and quadrupled in size to a combined 66 square miles in mountains and grassland northwest of Las Vegas.
The merged fires burned some structures but no figures were available, said fire information officer Mike Johnson. “They were able to save some structures and we know we lost other structures that we weren’t able to defend.”
An estimated 500 homes in San Miguel were in rural areas of Mora and San Miguel counties covered by evacuation orders or warning notices, Romero said.
Elsewhere, the fire danger in the Denver area on Friday was the highest it had been in over a decade, according to the National Weather Service, because of temperatures in the 80s combined with strong winds and very dry conditions.
In Arizona, a Flagstaff-area fire burned 30 homes and numerous other buildings when the flames blew through rural neighborhoods Tuesday.
A shift in wind had crews working Saturday to keep the fire from moving up mountain slopes or toward homes in rural neighborhoods near areas that burned Tuesday, fire information officer Dick Fleishman said.
Areas ordered Saturday to evacuate because of another large fire still growing in northern New Mexico included Philmont Scout Ranch. Meanwhile, the nearby town of Cimarron remained on notice for possible evacuation, according to Colfax County officials.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed emergency declarations for four counties over the fires.