N.M. fires spur call to declare a disaster

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — New Mexico’s governor asked President Joe Biden on Tuesday to declare a disaster as firefighters scrambled to clear brush, build fire lines and spray water to keep the largest blaze burning in the U.S. from destroying more homes in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

During a briefing on the fire burning across the state’s northeast, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a request for a presidential disaster declaration that will be sent to the White House in hopes of freeing up financial assistance for recovery efforts.

“I’m unwilling to wait,” Lujan Grisham said. “I have 6,000 people evacuated. I have families who don’t know what the next day looks like.”

She vowed to get them help, but residents in Las Vegas were already voicing concerns about grocery stores being closed as some people chose to leave even though evacuations had not been ordered.

Those who had found refuge at a shelter in Las Vegas were worried they might have to find another place to go if the fierce winds predicted today and this weekend push the flames closer to the city.

A battery of fire engines and their crews were busy Tuesday working to protect homes and other structures on the edge of Las Vegas while bulldozers cleared more fire lines on the outskirts. Air tanker and helicopter pilots took advantage of a break in the thick smoke and falling ash during the early hours to battle the flames from above with fire retardant and water drops.

The blaze has charred 228 square miles, destroying around 170 homes in its path and forcing the evacuation of the state’s psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas.

The number of homes destroyed would likely go much higher given the ground that the fire has covered and the villages that it moved through over the past week, Lujan Grisham said during the briefing. Assessments by law enforcement were ongoing.

The National Interagency Fire Center reported Tuesday that a dozen uncontained large fires have burned about 400 square miles in five states, including New Mexico. Nearly 3,500 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to fires burning across the country.

On the northern flank of the big New Mexico fire, crews were trying to keep the flames from reaching Mora as the winds shifted. State officials urged those residents who have refused to leave the area to reconsider.

Northeast of Las Vegas is the Zamora Ranch, a place for livestock refugees, including 160 cattle, 50 horses, 70 sheep, 10 goats and two pigs. State livestock inspectors said green flags are flying at the entrances of ranches where livestock are left behind during evacuations so that responders know later.

The fire merged last week with another blaze that was sparked in early April when a prescribed fire set by land managers to reduce fire danger escaped containment. The cause of the other fire remains under investigation.

Another New Mexico wildfire burning through forested areas to the northeast has forced the evacuations of about 800 homes while charring 92 square miles.

A separate fire burning in the mountains near Los Alamos National Laboratory prompted evacuations over the weekend and other communities were told to get ready to leave if conditions worsen. It has charred more than 39 square miles and destroyed at least three homes.