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New Mexico wildfires: Dangerous winds return

LAS VEGAS, NM –

After a few days of calm allowed some families who had fled the raging wildfires in northeastern New Mexico to return to their homes, dangerous winds hit again on Sunday, threatening to ignite fires. spread in situ and complicate the work of the fire brigade.

More than 1,500 firefighters were on the fire lines at the largest blaze east and northeast of Santa Fe, which grew by 8 square miles (20 square kilometers) in one night to a large area. twice the city of Philadelphia.

The red flag warning went into effect on Sunday, kicking off what fire officials predict will be another “historic multi-day wind event that could lead to extreme fire behavior. “

A few helicopters were able to gather new information from the air about the spread of the blaze early Sunday morning “but they won’t be there for long because of the wind out there,” a force spokesman. Firefighter Tom Abel said.

“The wind is unbelievable. It’s the pre-set, the amount of wind we’re going to have and the time we’re going to have it,” he said at a morning briefing.

“They’re predicting the wind will blow all day today, all night, all tomorrow, so it’s been a long time for our fire,” he said.

Thousands of residents were evacuated as the fire consumed large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico – a total area of ​​275 square miles (712 square kilometers).

The good news, Abel said, is that additional fire crews continue to arrive from across the West.

For many California firefighters assisting local units, the winds in New Mexico were confusing. Unlike the Santa Ana winds sustained over southern California, the air around the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire in New Mexico swirled around and was redirected in complex and shifting interactions with the mountains. .

“We’ll see what happens,” battalion commander Ryan Lewis, of Ontario, California, said during a rare break with his firefighters at a local hotel serving meals. heater for firefighters and evacuees.

The worst heavy smoke billowed out of some areas on Saturday, allowing people in rural Las Vegas, New Mexico, to return to a sense of normalcy on Saturday as rural neighbors Their village was devastated amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.

Shops and restaurants have reopened, and the historic center is no longer filled with firefighters but filled with people feeling anxious, lost, and wary of what lies ahead.

Liz Birmingham, whose daughter has a persistent headache from the smoke, said: ‘It’s really like living under a dark cloud. “Incredible.”

Nearly 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) across the nation have burned this year, and 2018 was the last time more fires were reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of spring do not bode well for the West, where prolonged drought and warmer temperatures caused by climate change have combined to exacerbate the wildfire threat. .

The main threat of the New Mexico fires is now in the north, where the blaze burns through vegetation that clogs the forest floor threatening some small rural communities, fire brigade spokesman Ryan Berlin said.

The threat to Las Vegas, a city of 13,000 people, eased after vegetation was cleared to create containment lines. Local officials on Saturday allowed residents of some areas in the northwest suburbs of the city to return to their homes, Berlin said.

At the start of the week, the city looked like a ghost town, with businesses closed, schools closed and the tourist area empty but for the firefighters to rest. By Saturday, it was in a partially recovered condition.

The National Guard carried water canisters, people lined up to sign up for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state’s Democratic U.S. Senator. Martin Heinrich met with local officials and toured the shelters of some displaced people.

“We don’t know if our houses are burning or if it’s going to stop,” said Domingo Martinez, an evacuee from rural Manuelitas northwest of Las Vegas. “I hope it dies so we can go home.”

Martinez, who was staying with his son on the east side of town, was visiting an old friend and neighbor who had been living in the middle school shelter for 15 days.

Outside of school, Martinez is offered a free haircut by Jessica Aragon, a hairdresser.

“I like people coming together,” Aragon said. “I think a smile is worth a thousand words.”

——


Melley reports from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan, Felicia Fonseca of Flagstaff, Arizona, and Paul Davenport and Michelle A. Monroe of Phoenix contributed to this report.

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