Residents of the small northeast New Mexico town of Las Vegas have been watching aircraft disappear into a giant plume of smoke to fight a growing wildfire that has burned hundreds of square miles, destroyed about 170 homes and threatens more destruction
Martina Gonzales and her grandson, Lukas Lee Mora, 4, walk outside of their home in Las Vegas, N.M., as a plume of smoke rises in the distance Tuesday, May, 3, 2022. Flames raced across more of New Mexico's pine-covered mountainsides Tuesday, charring more than 217 square miles over the last several weeks. Gonzales and her husband have packed up their valuables and are ready to leave the area if the fire tops the ridge behind their house. LAS VEGAS, N.M.
During a briefing on the wind-whipped fire burning through dry landscape, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed her request for a presidential disaster declaration and said she hoped it would bring financial help for recovery efforts. She called it important to seek the declaration now, rather than waiting until the fire is out.
Dan Pearson, a U.S. Forest Service fire behavior analyst, called the day “a brief reprieve from the extreme conditions we have been experiencing,” but warned that dry winds are expected to increase and shift on Wednesday, pushing fire and smoke toward Las Vegas. “I can tell you, from my training and experience, town is very defendable,” Lopez said. “As you go further into town, it becomes a lot more defensible. And you know, we’re doing everything we can to prepare for that.”
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