Reuters: U.S.: Drought-fueled wildfires rage in New Mexico, California

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Drought-fueled wildfires rage in New Mexico, California Jun 3rd 2013, 01:56 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Historic drought fuels season's first wildfire in New Mexico Sat, Jun 1 2013 Cooler temperatures help to tame southern California wildfire Sun, May 5 2013 1 of 3. A firefighter monitors flames from a wildfire near Lake Hughes, California June 2, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn By Zelie Pollon SANTA FE, New Mexico | Sun Jun 2, 2013 9:56pm EDT SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - A trio of drought-fueled wildfires burned out of control in New Mexico and California on Sunday as shifting winds and other adverse weather conditions hampered fire-fighting efforts, authorities said. The Powerhouse wildfire in California's Lake Hughes area, 65 miles north of Los Angeles, had destroyed six houses, said Ronald Ashdale, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. It was threatening more than 1,000 homes and had already charred 19,500 acres, the Forest Service said, adding that the blaze was not expected to be contained before Wednesday. High temperatures and dramatic wind shifts have contributed to the fire, according to Ashdale, who said as many as 975 firefighters and other personnel had been struggling to contain the blaze in an area as dry as a tinderbox. In New Mexico, two other fires also raged out of control on Sunday, one of them consuming 7,476 acres 2,800 (ha) of Ponderosa pine forest in an area known as the Pecos Wilderness, authorities said. It too was fed by severe drought conditions blanketing 98 percent of the state, weather officials said. "This is a historic drought. We haven't seen a drought like this since the 1950s," said Dan Ware of New Mexico's State Forestry agency. Smoke advisories were sent to residents throughout the state after smoke and falling ash filled the air over Santa Fe and neighboring areas. The other New Mexico fire had consumed 1,745 acres of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by late Sunday, triggering the evacuation of about 50 families, fire officials said. (Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien.; Editing by Tom Brown and Christopher Wilson) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions