New York, Europe Brief News – More residents of rural villages is New Mexico have prepared to flee quickly as a massive wildfire destroyed more homes and tinder-dry pine forests.
The fire – the largest in the United States right now – has burned nearly 300 structures including homes, commercial buildings and barns.
The tally on Monday is likely to be higher since authorities have been unable to access some areas to survey the damage.
Officials stressed there was no emergency, but the fire was within about 4.8km (3 miles) of the lab and was growing.
“If you don’t have to be at work, it’s time to prepare to telework,” lab director Thom Mason told employees in a video. “Conditions can change quickly, it has been very dry, very windy, and we have to be respectful of that risk and ready for what comes next.”
The development comes amid no letup to the gusty winds that have complicated firefighting efforts over previous days.
The wind has fanned the New Mexico fires for weeks with only brief interruptions and the most recent wave of consecutive days of extremely dangerous wildfire conditions are unprecedented, weather forecasters said.
Nearly 1,700 firefighters have been battling the biggest blaze burning northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It has charred more than 766 square kilometres (296 square miles). After fighting it for nearly a month, firefighters had contained almost half of the blaze by Monday, a feat that operations section chief Todd Abel said was significant given the challenges crews have faced.
