- SPRING WILDFIRES
MORA, N.M. (AP) — Firefighters in New Mexico battling the nation's largest active wildfire say favorable weather helped them prevent the blaze from growing over the last 24 hours. Nearly 3,000 firefighters were working Monday to strengthen and increase firebreaks as warmer weather settled in. The blaze that started nearly seven weeks ago in the Rocky Mountain foothills remains just 40% contained. Fire crews were helped over the weekend by water-dropping helicopters and cooler temperatures. A survey of the burn scar found that one-firth of the area experienced high-severity burning that can lead to heavy and even dangerous erosion and difficulties in reforestation.
- AP-US-WILDFIRES-SOWING-SEEDS
The mission was to rescue tens of thousands of invaluable tree sprouts from a research center in New Mexico and to keep safe a vital bank of millions of pine, spruce and other conifer seeds that will be used to restore fire-ravaged landscapes across the West. Owen Burney and his team succeeded in evacuating most of the priceless collection. But the superintendent of New Mexico State University's Forestry Research Center says the massive fire still churning through New Mexico highlights the need for collecting more seed, building more nurseries and planting more seedlings. The center is one of only a few such nurseries in the US and stands at the forefront of a major undertaking to rebuild more resilient forests as wildfires burn hotter, faster and more often.
- AP-NM-FATAL SHOOTING-INVESTIGATION
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say they still are investigating a shooting at a gas station in March that left an Albuquerque woman dead. Police say a man and three teenagers allegedly were involved but no arrests have been made yet. Two of the four suspects were going to a city park to buy marijuana when they told police they allegedly were robbed and beaten by two men wearing masks. The victims told police they met up with two other teens at the gas station and stayed there, believing the robbers would return to the scene. An SUV pulled up and three teens fired about 30 shots at the vehicle, killing a female passenger. According to police, the occupants of the SUV were innocent bystanders and didn't know the teens.
- SPRING WILDFIRES
MORA, N.M. (AP) — As more than 2,700 firefighters in northern New Mexico continue to battle the nation's largest active wildfire, many evacuees are worried about their future. Hundreds have been away from their homes for more than a month now due to the biggest fire in the state's recorded history, and some say their financial resources are dwindling. Officials at Glorieta Adventure Camps said there have been 67 coronavirus cases among evacuees, including some that required hospitalization. Meanwhile, the six-week-old wildfire remained 40% contained around its perimeter Sunday.
- AP-US-SPRING-WILDFIRES
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — More than 5,000 firefighters are battling multiple wildland blazes in dry, windy weather across the Southwest. The fires include one that has destroyed dozens of structures in western Texas and another that is picking up steam again in New Mexico. Evacuation orders remained in place Thursday for residents near fires in Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. Dangerous fire weather was forecast to continue through Friday, especially in New Mexico where the largest U.S. fire has burned for more than a month. The governor expects the number of structures that have burned to rise to more than 1,000. That fire has burned more than 473 square miles.