Due to the continuing danger, county officials are unable to provide full accountability for how many structures were destroyed or damaged. But Joy Ansley, San Miguel County County Manager, said that before the Hermits Peak / Calf Canyon fire spread on Friday, it had destroyed 200 structures.
Eight other fires also burned in the state on Saturday. New Mexico is one of several states to deal with wildfires this spring, fueled by strong winds and drier conditions that are likely linked to climate change.
In Arizona, firefighters put out a fire in a tunnel that burned 19,075 acres in the central part of the state near Flagstaff, according to InciWeb, a government website that tracks forest fires. That fire was 92 percent under control by Saturday night.
About 100 miles southwest of the blaze, the Crooks fire near Mount Union burned more than 9,000 acres and was 38 percent under control, according to InciWeb. And in Nebraska, firefighters have mastered 97 percent of the fire on Road 702, which burned about 44,000 acres, according to the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.
Roger Montoya, a spokesman for the state of New Mexico, which includes three counties currently affected by the fires, spent some time last week with a team delivering food and other supplies to residents who have not yet left. Some are without electricity, he said.
“People are reluctant to leave their homes,” he said.
Samuel Coca, general manager of a bar at the Castañeda Hotel in Las Vegas, New York, said there are three vehicles packed with belongings in case he and his family have to leave.
As the fire escalated on Friday, along with the number of people leaving their homes, his bar began providing free buffet dinners for firefighters and evacuees. Many people left their homes with the clothes they were wearing, and not much else, he added.
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