Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Wildfires sweep New Mexico, hundreds of properties destroyed

Published 04/23/2022, 01:41 PM
Updated 04/23/2022, 08:50 PM
© Reuters. Smoke drifts from a fire in the neighbourhood of The Farm, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., April 22, 2022 in this image obtained from social media via REUTERS

© Reuters. Smoke drifts from a fire in the neighbourhood of The Farm, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., April 22, 2022 in this image obtained from social media via REUTERS

By Andrew Hay

TAOS, N.M. (Reuters) -Wind-driven wildfires destroyed hundreds of structures in northern New Mexico and forced thousands to flee mountain villages as blazes burned unusually early in the year in the parched U.S. Southwest.

Two wildfires merged northwest of Las Vegas, New Mexico, and raced through 15 miles of forest driven by winds over 75 mph (121 kph), destroying more than 200 buildings, state authorities said.

To the northeast, a fire about 35 miles west of Taos doubled in size to become the largest burning in the United States, forcing the evacuation of a scout ranch and threatening several villages.

The wildfires are the most severe of nearly two dozen in the U.S. Southwest and raised concerns the region was in for a brutal fire year as a decades-long drought combined with abundant dry vegetation.

"We have a longer, more dangerous and more dramatic fire season ahead of us," New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told reporters, adding that the state had 20 active fires following Friday's "unprecedented" wind storm.

The Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires near Las Vegas combined to burn 42,341 acres, an area larger than Florida's Disney World. Evacuations expanded to half a dozen more communities including the village of Mora, the governor said.

© Reuters. Smoke drifts from a fire in the neighbourhood of The Farm, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., April 22, 2022 in this image obtained from social media via REUTERS

Climate change has lowered winter snowpacks and allowed larger and more extreme fires to start earlier in the year, according to scientists.

West of Taos, the Cooks Peak fire nearly doubled in size to 48,672 acres, forcing the evacuation of the Philmont Scout Ranch and threatening the village of Cimarron.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.