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Photos: US firefighters battle huge wildfires in New Mexico

US President Biden approves disaster declaration to deliver extra financial resources to remote stretches of the state.

Spring Wildfires
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. [Thomas Peipert/AP Photo]
Published On 5 May 2022

Firefighters slowed the advance of huge wildfires in the US state of New Mexico as strong winds relented on Wednesday, while President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration that brings new financial resources to remote stretches of the state devastated by fire since early April.

US Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez announced the presidential disaster declaration on Wednesday during an evening briefing by the US Forest Service about efforts to contain the sprawling wildfire in northeastern New Mexico, which has fanned out across 647 square km (250 square miles) of high alpine forest and grasslands at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains.

“It will help us do that rebuilding and it will help us with the expenses and the hardship that people are facing right now,” the congresswoman said. “We’re glad it happened this quickly.”

Firefighters said they are seizing upon an interlude of relatively calm and cool weather to keep the fire from pushing any closer to the small New Mexico city of Las Vegas and other villages scattered along the fire’s shifting fronts. Aeroplanes and helicopters dropped slurries of red fire retardant from the sky, as ground crews cleared timber and brush to starve the fire along crucial fronts.

For days, bulldozers have been scraping fire lines on the outskirts of Las Vegas, population 13,000, while crews have been conducting burns to clear adjacent vegetation. Aircraft dropped more fire retardant as the second line of defence along a ridge just west of town in preparation for intense winds expected over the weekend.

An estimated 15,500 homes in outlying areas and in the valleys of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that border Las Vegas have been affected by mandatory evacuations. The tally of homes destroyed by the fire stands at about 170.

Spring Wildfires
A burned building is seen in the Pendaries Village following a wildfire near Las Vegas, New Mexico. [Cedar Attanasio/AP Photo]
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Spring Wildfires
Chris Castillo throws a freshly cut log as he and his cousins clear a wireline at a family member's home in Las Vegas. [Cedar Attanasio/AP Photo]
Spring Wildfires New Mexico
Firefighters have been making significant progress on the wildfires, burning unusually hot and fast for this time of year in the western US. [J. Michael Johnson/US Forest Service via AP]
Spring Wildfires
Harold Sena, of Tierra Monte, walks his cow, Jody, at the Zamora Ranch outside Las Vegas. Sena bathed Jody regularly for state fairs, now it's one of the livestock refugees at the ranch due to the wildfires. [Cedar Attanasio/AP Photo]
Spring Wildfires
The blaze burning near the community of Las Vegas has charred more than 562sq km (217 square miles). [Cedar Attanasio/AP Photo]
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Plumes of smoke from wildfires are seen from Highway 518, a few miles north of Las Vegas, New Mexico. [Jasper Bives via AP]
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Spring Wildfires
The president's disaster declaration releases emergency funds to recovery efforts in three counties in northeastern New Mexico where fires still rage, as well as portions of southern New Mexico where wind-driven blazes killed two people and destroyed more than 200 homes in mid-April. [Thomas Peipert/AP Photo]
Spring Wildfires
Fire officials also point to overgrown areas where vegetation can worsen wildfire conditions. [Thomas Peipert/AP Photo]
Spring Wildfires
Helicopter crews fighting a massive wildfire in the area were grounded for much of Wednesday because of high winds. [Thomas Peipert/AP Photo]