New Mexico firefighters thwarted by rough terrain, wildfires rage

New Mexico's Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire had raged across 82,252 acres (33,286 hectares) as of Friday, although officials said the area could be much larger than that. No new acreage numbers were available Saturday because planes did not conduct an infrared flight Friday night, said Fire Information Officer Dan Ware. "We know that there was significant growth yesterday but we don't have a hard and fast number," Ware said. Some 586 firefighters and support crew were fighting the blaze. "This is the biggest show in the country right now in terms of fire size. So a lot of resources are available to us. We're just not sure we'll be able to do a lot of flying," Ware said. Access to the fire was the chief difficulty. It was burning in very steep, rugged terrain where firefighters are not able to cut fire lines through the brush and timber. "Fire activity was so extreme yesterday we had to pull crews out. We're expecting another day like that today. With such high wind levels and low humidity there's going to be big potential for some major growth," he said...more