Wildfire prompts call for U.S. disaster declaration

LAS VEGAS, N.M. >> New Mexico's governor on Tuesday asked President Joe Biden 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. She said it was important that the declaration be made on the front end rather than waiting until the fire is out.

“I'm unwilling to wait,” said Lujan Grisham, a firstterm Democrat who is running for reelection. “I have 6,000 people evacuated, I have families who don't know what the next day looks like, I have families who are trying to navigate their children and health care resources, figure out their livelihoods and they're in every single little community and it must feel to them like they are out there on their own.”

She vowed to get them help, but residents in the small northeastern New Mexico city of Las Vegas were already voicing concerns about grocery stores being closed as some people chose to leave ahead of the flames even though evacuations had not been ordered.

Those from villages in the mountains surrounding the community who had found refuge with family members and at a shelter in Las Vegas were worried they might have to find another place to go if the fierce winds predicted for 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 to drop fire retardant and water.

New Mexico was in the bull's eye for the nation's latest wave of hot, dry and windy weather. Forecasters also issued warnings for parts of Arizona and Colorado, and authorities in Texas urged people there to be careful after crews in that state had to respond to several new fires Monday.

Authorities in northeastern New Mexico said the flames were a couple miles from Las Vegas, which serves as an economic hub for most of northeastern New Mexico.