On Saturday, critical fire conditions were issued across much of the United States’ Southwest, as crews in northern New Mexico battled to halt the spread of the nation’s largest active wildfire.
The 7-week-old fire has scorched 491 square miles (1,272 square kilometres) of forest in steep terrain east of Santa Fe since it was sparked in April by two intentional fires.
Crews were patrolling partially burned areas and cleaning and cutting containment lines, including primary lines close to the fire, while bulldozers scraped backup lines further away.
Red flag warnings of critical fire conditions were issued by the National Weather Service for regions of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. These conditions include high winds, low relative humidity, and dry vegetation.
The return of drier and warmer weather, together with stronger winds, posed a concern of heightened fire activity over the Memorial Day weekend, prompting officials to advise the public to fasten vehicle chains and be cautious of potential fire sources.
“The last thing we need right now is another ignition,” said Jayson Coil, an operations section chief.
Wind gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) were predicted, with critical fire conditions continuing through Monday, followed by more favourable weather later in the week, according to Bruno Rodriguez, the fire management team’s meteorologist.
According to John Chest, a fire operations manager, the strong gusts might spread flames and cause the fire to jump containment lines and sprint forward. United States Southwest fire
“Imagine traveling in your car and the fire can outpace you. That’s the kind of extreme fire behavior that we’re talking about,” Chester said.
Nearly 3,000 firemen and other workers were committed to the fire, which was only 48 percent contained.
According to preliminary estimates, the fire has destroyed at least 330 residences, but state officials expect the number of homes and other structures lost to increase to more than 1,000 when more assessments are completed.
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