Other villages were evacuated Sunday in the northern part of the state of New Mexico, where uncontrolled fires are raging, which have already destroyed hundreds of buildings.
Residents of Mora and Cleveland were warned to leave as the blaze engulfed rural villages and a tourist resort further south, according to fire and local officials.
The region is facing the most devastating fires in the southwestern United States; the current situation raises concerns that the region and the country will face a very difficult year in terms of fires.
“It is devastating and out of control,” said San Miguel County Chief Joey Ansley, referring to the so-called Calf Canyon fire that is sweeping mountains northeast of Santa Fe.
The fire spread explosively on Friday, due to a windstorm. It has destroyed an unknown number of houses, as it burned down some 217.5 square kilometers.
“Many people lost everything,” New Mexico Governor Michel Luhan Grisham told a news conference.
New Mexico is facing conditions that are typical of summer in terms of fires. Climate change has reduced snow in the region and facilitated larger and more intense fires earlier than other years, scientists explain.
As winds weakened yesterday, firefighters were able to contain the blaze by 12 percent and are struggling to save homes in villages such as Rosiada and Pendaris, according to Michael Johnson, a Federal Forest Service official.
Further northeast, a fire 56 kilometers east of Taos spread to an area of ​​209 square kilometers, evacuating a scout camp and four villages.
Another uncontrolled fire is underway in the Hemes Mountains, about 24 kilometers from Los Alamos, with authorities ordering the immediate evacuation of residents of two small communities.
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