New Mexico wildfire growing
The fire burning pine forests about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away from Priscilla Crespin’s home is the largest wildfire in the U.S. and the first to force the 81-year-old to leave the small northeastern New Mexico city where she has spent nearly all her life.
Crespin left her home in Las Vegas, New Mexico in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains on Monday because smoke from the fire wasn’t good for her asthma, her children were growing concerned and other family members who live nearby were making plans to leave.
On Tuesday, residents awoke to blue skies as the wind shifted - but afternoon gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) were predicted to fan the blaze, making for extremely dangerous conditions and tough work for firefighters that is expected to last through the weekend.
“We are very concerned about very significant fire growth today,” said David Craft, a National Weather Service fire meteorologist in Albuquerque.
When Crespin’s daughter showed up to take her to Albuquerque, fire crews were conducting fire prevention measures to try to make Crespin’s home safer if flames approach it - cutting down trees, raking pine needles and spraying water on properties in the area near her home. She grabbed clothes, photos and essential documents.
“It’s awful. It scares you,” Crespin said as she was driven away from her hometown. “You don’t know when it’s going to get to the houses.”
Even though no evacuations were ordered for the city of 13,000 people, the blaze that has charred 228 square miles (590 square kilometers) of mountainsides and meadows has prompted some residents to flee. It has destroyed at least 172 homes scattered through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and led to the evacuation of the state’s psychiatric hospital.
Crews are battling on several fronts to prevent the fire from pushing into more populated areas as its feeds on tinder-dry forests.
Wildfires have become a year-round threat in the drought-stricken West and they are moving faster and burning hotter than ever due to climate change, scientists and fire experts say. California for example has experienced the eight largest wildfires in state history over the last five years.