Wildfires burn more than 52,000 hectares in 3 US states
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One person was killed and three firefighters were injured as wildfires burned in western and central Nebraska.
PHOTO: NEBRASKA STATE PATROL / TWITTER
NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - Wildfires that continue to blaze across Arizona, Nebraska and New Mexico have been blamed for one death, the scorching of more than 52,000 ha and the evacuations of about 4,000 homes, officials said.
The fires are part of what has been an early and active season across the country, as fires have also plagued California, Colorado and Texas.
Corey Mead, a National Weather Service forecaster, said Nebraska had seen "above normal" activity during its fire season, and the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said the fires had come well before the beginning of the state's wildfire season.
Lujan Grisham said at a news conference on Saturday (April 23) that the largest threat in her state was the Calf Canyon fire, east of Santa Fe, which put more than 900 homes at risk.
The Calf Canyon fire combined with the Hermits Peak fire, about 19km north-west of Las Vegas, New Mexico, at the base of Hermits Peak in the Pecos Wilderness. The Hermits Peak fire started on April 6 after "unexpected erratic winds" from a prescribed fire in the area caused the blaze to grow, officials reported.
Lujan Grisham said more than 200 structures had been burned and that 1,000 firefighters had been dispatched. By Sunday, the Calf Canyon fire had burned more than 22,000 ha and was 12 per cent contained.
More than 3,400 homes in New Mexico were under mandatory evacuations.
Coconino County in Northern Arizona was under a state of emergency as firefighters struggle to contain a wildfire, about 22km north-east of Flagstaff. More than 260 firefighters and workers had been deployed to the fire, which forced more than 750 households in the area to evacuate, according to the governor's office.
The fire in Coconino County, which began on April 17, was 3 per cent contained as of Sunday and had burned more than 8,500 ha. About 25 structures have been lost, the governor's office said.
In Nebraska, one person was killed and three firefighters were injured as wildfires that began on Friday, fuelled by high winds and dry grass, burned throughout the western and central regions of the state, authorities said.
A spokesperson for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said on Sunday there were reports of additional injuries in other fires but that she did not have details.
