At one point, Hermits Peak / Calf Canyon’s fierce fire was spreading at 50 miles per hour, said Travis Regensberg, a general contractor brought in from New Mexico to help protect homes and buildings.
“It was a nightmare,” Regensberg told CNN on Thursday. “It was really hard for us. I was in it for 17 days in a row – three, four hours of sleep a night to protect the communities here.”
Firefighters are protecting buildings by creating perimeter rings around them and using bulldozers to cut fire lines, he said. In addition, they are trying to minimize damage to septic and well systems so that people have “a place to return,” Regensberg said.
Strong winds were the biggest challenge for firefighters.
“This fire is a sleeping beast. I mean, I call it the devil,” he added.
The monstrous wildfire is a combination of two wildfires raging about 12 miles northwest of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Taken together, the flames burned more than 168,000 acres as of Friday morning, with a 20% limit, according to the inter-agency reporting website Inciweb. According to Governor Michel Lujan Grisham, it has grown into the second largest wildfire in the state’s history. Dozens of homes have been destroyed and more than 15,000 are in danger, authorities warned.
“I’m 71 years old. I’ve never seen it so bad, so big – I mean, it was huge,” resident Barbara Kuhl told CNN.
Kwell and her husband, David Kwell, lost electricity at their home in Holman, north of the affected areas, but they are grateful that their house was spared, she said.
The sky is blue where she lives, Quell said, but she thinks of those who are unlucky.
“I’m just praying for people who are in danger, for houses or structures,” she said. “Our friends have lost everything, almost everything … It’s really sad.”
Crews are battling five other wildfires in the state, according to the National Interdepartmental Fire Center. So far this year, about 300,000 acres have been burned in New Mexico – more than were burned in the previous two years combined, said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in New Mexico in response to the devastation of a wildfire that has allowed the state to gain access to critical federal aid.
The crews are preparing for a windy weekend
The winds eased on Thursday and are expected to be calmer on Friday, which will allow some progress in the fight against the fire, the commander of the incident Dave Bales told CNN.
“The fire is actually going out today (Thursday),” Bales said.
But officials warn that the wind will pick up again this weekend, making firefighting even more challenging.
“The crews have made good progress in retaining and building fire lines and protecting the structure around the fire before the expected strong winds this weekend,” Grisham said in a tweet.
Gary Zell, an incident meteorologist at the U.S. Forest Service, warned that clouds and smoke, combined with low humidity and wind direction, would contribute to “extreme burning conditions” over the weekend until Tuesday next week.
Earlier, there were heavy fires in the area, which led to 24 events with a red flag in 30 days, Bales added. Red flag signals are issued when weather conditions are critical for forest fires to either ignite or spread further.
Nearly 30 towns in San Miguel and Mora counties are under full evacuation notice due to the wildfire.
“This is a long-term event and we do not expect to have ‘control’ of this fire any time soon,” a statement from the two counties said.
CNN’s Hannah Sarrison and Paradise Afshar contributed to this report.
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