New Mexico wildfires cause evacuations
Source: AP-Excite
By BARRY MASSEY
PECOS, N.M. (AP) - Fire crews are battling two wildfires in New Mexico that have scorched thousands of acres, spurred evacuation calls for dozens of homes and shut down a state highway.
Officials said the fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest more than doubled in size by Friday night and was still totally uncontained. That prompted New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez to declare a state of emergency in San Miguel County to free up state funds to fight the fire.
New Mexico State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware said the evacuations came after the fire jumped state Route 63.
Officials asked residents in 140 homes - mostly used for the summer - to leave as crews battled the 3.9-square-mile (2,500-acre) blaze near the communities of Pecos and Tres Lagunas, about 25 miles east of Santa Fe.
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Tracy Bennett, ranch manager of Hidden Valley Ranch, a corporate retreat and guest ranch near Pecos, N.M., watches a large plume of smoke rise from a wildfire Friday, May 31, 2013. Bennett had to evacuate four guests the day before when the fast-moving fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest threatened the ranch and nearby cabins and vacation homes. (AP Photo/Barry Massey)