With flames marching across wide swaths of northeastern New Mexico’s tinder-dry forests, firefighters were taking a stand Wednesday in their fight against the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. to keep it from pushing any closer to the town of Las Vegas and other villages scattered along the fire’s shifting fronts.
Like a game of chess, fire bosses were busy planning their next move and looking for spots where they could steal fuel ahead of the fire, starving it of more timber and brush.
Bulldozers for days have been scraping fire lines on the outskirts of Las Vegas, a population of about 13,000, while crews have been conducting burns to clear vegetation along the dozer lines. Airplanes and helicopters dropped more fire retardant as the second line of defense along the ridge just west of town in preparation for the intense winds expected over the weekend.
Meanwhile, numerous fire engines and crews remained stationed Wednesday on the western edge of town.
Getting the right resources into the right areas when they can do the most good is the goal, fire officials said.
“And the chessboard keeps getting bigger. That makes it even more complicated,” fire information officer Andy Lyon said Wednesday, referencing a peak and ridge on the northern end of the fire that didn’t factor just days ago. “So now that topography is part of our equation, part of the chessboard.”
The fire grew to 250 square miles (647 square kilometers), with containment stuck at 20% of its perimeter. In one area, the fire was about a mile away from Las Vegas on Wednesday, but the real concern was the gusts of 60 miles (96 kph) or more that were expected to sweep over the area during the weekend.
Officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory were warily tracking another wildfire that crept Wednesday within nearly 5 miles (8 kilometers) of facilities at the U.S. national defense laboratory based in Los Alamos.
Fire crews worked to widen a road that stands between the fire and Los Alamos while clearing out the underbrush and treating the area with a fire retardant.
“Currently, we feel confident that our mitigation measures will protect Laboratory property,” said Rich Nieto, the laboratory’s wildland fire manager in a statement.
Wildfires have become a year-round threat in the drought-stricken West — moving faster and burning hotter than ever due to climate change, scientists and fire experts say. Fire officials also point to overgrown and unhealthy forested areas where built-up vegetation can worsen wildfire conditions.
Nationally, the National Interagency Fire Center reported Wednesday that a dozen uncontained large fires have burned about 436 square miles (1,129 square kilometers) in five states, including New Mexico. More than 3,500 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to fires burning across the country.
Las Vegas Mayor Louie Trujillo has been trying to assure residents that crews were working tirelessly, and fire officials said Wednesday that they felt good about the lines built outside the city.
“People have not slept for weeks,” Trujillo said. “We know strategically where those engines need to be, we know strategically where the fire retardant needs to go, we know strategically where they need to drop water.”
While evacuations have yet to be ordered for the town, many residents are packed and ready to go and local school districts have canceled classes. An estimated 15,500 homes in outlying areas and in the valleys of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that border the town have been affected by mandatory evacuations.
Martina Gonzales and her grandson watched Tuesday from their front yard as aircraft disappeared into a giant plume of smoke to fight the growing wildfire. Four-year-old Lukas yelled “airplane” every time one flew overhead in the effort to save Las Vegas, a commercial hub for the rural farming and ranching region.
Gonzales’ car was packed with valuables in case an evacuation order came, but she was not sure where they would go.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has requested a presidential disaster declaration, which would bring financial help for recovery efforts. The tally of homes destroyed by the fire stands around 170, but the governor said that number would likely increase once the damage is surveyed.
On the northern flank of the big New Mexico fire, authorities said fire lines have kept the flames from reaching the towns of Cleveland and Mora.
The fire merged last week with another blaze sparked in early April when a prescribed fire set by land managers escaped containment. The cause of the other fire remains under investigation.
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