Dangerous winds, wildfire conditions returning

After a few days of calm allowed some families who had fled wildfires raging in northeast New Mexico to return to their homes, dangerous winds picked up again Sunday, threatening to spread burning embers that could ignite new fires and complicate work for firefighters.

More than 1,500 firefighters were on the fire lines at the biggest blaze east and northeast of Santa Fe, which grew another 8 square miles overnight to an area more than twice as large as the city of Philadelphia.

The area’s largest rural town — Las Vegas, New Mexico, population 13,000 — appeared safe for now thanks to fire lines dug by bulldozers and other priority preparations over the past week.

But authorities appealed to residents on the outskirts who have already been ordered to evacuate to delay no longer.