Extreme fire conditions threaten New Mexico and the southwestern US.

Photo: JOSH EDELSON / AFP / Getty Images

Weather conditions described as potentially historic and hazardous were present in New Mexico on Saturday and will continue for the next few days, while more than 1, 550 firefighters and a fleet of planes and helicopters are working feverishly to reinforce the lines around the largest fire burning in the United States.

Fire danger is very high during Saturday and Sunday) due to a combination of high temperatures, gusty winds and vegetation dry, warned the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

Very high fire danger today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) due to a combination of hot temperatures, gusty winds, and dry vegetation. Please exercise caution out there around any flames! #azwx #cawx pic.twitter.com/t5AQXKUys8

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) May 7, 2022

Many families have already been left homeless and thousands of residents have been evacuated due to flames that have charred large swathes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico.

Residents on the fringes of the shifting fire front were hopeful that all the work done in the past few days to clear brush, install sprinklers, lay hoses and use bulldozers to scrape lines will prevent the fire from reaching the small city of Las Vegas and other towns to the north and south.

“New Mexico faces 100 hours in a row of the worst possible fire conditions, with high temperatures and extreme winds”, Governor Michelle Luja tweeted n Grisham (D) on Friday. “It is vitally important to comply with evacuation orders. Your life and safety is the top priority.”

Extreme weather increases the danger

A series of ongoing fires will continue to burn in New Mexico and will worsen with the weather this weekend. week. New fires are also expected, which could quickly get out of control.

Earlier this week, The Calf Canyon Fire became the second largest on record in New Mexico. In late April, it merged with the Hermit’s Peak Fire just to the east, a prescribed burn that crews lost control amid strong winds. The cause of the Calf Canyon Fire is under investigation.

The Calf Canyon Fire Canyon is among the six major fires burning in New Mexico. The fires prompted President Biden to declare a major disaster for parts of the state on Wednesday so that federal assistance can reach affected residents.

Fires in New Mexico have burned more than 270,000 acres so far this year, the second-most in the last decade, and fire season is over entering its peak.

Red flag warnings, for dangerous fire weather conditions, cover all of New Mexico, as well as western of Texas, eastern and northern Arizona, southern Nevada, the Inland Empire and California deserts, and much of southern and eastern Colorado.

Predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought term and warmer temperatures caused by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfires.

With information from The Washington Post, CBS News and NWS

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