More than 1,500 firefighters were on the fire lines at the biggest blaze east and northeast of Santa Fe, which grew another eight square miles overnight to an area more than twice as large as the city of Philadelphia.
"They are predicting the wind to blow all day today, through the night, all day tomorrow so that is a long time for our fire," he said. The worst of the thick wildfire smoke had blown out of some areas on Saturday, allowing residents of rural Las Vegas, New Mexico, to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbours hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.
Nationwide, close to 2,000 square miles have burned so far this year, with 2018 being the last time this much fire had been reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfire.
The city looked like a ghost town earlier in the week, with businesses shuttered, schools closed and the tourist district empty but for resting firefighters. By Saturday, it was in a partial state of recovery.