New Mexico, Colorado wildfires force hundreds to evacuate

(Reuters) - Wildfires stoked by low humidity and high temperatures raged on Saturday in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, threatening nearly 1,900 homes and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents from remote communities, fire officials said.

Smoke is seen from a fire in this aerial shot above Cimarron, New Mexico, U.S., June 1, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media on June 2, 2018. Justin Hawkins/via REUTERS

The two fires, about 250 miles (400 km) apart in the drought-parched Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States, have consumed almost 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares)between them, officials said.

The larger of the two, the so-called Ute Park Fire in Colfax County, New Mexico, was zero percent contained after scorching nearly 28,000 acres by Saturday near Cimarron, a town of about 1,100 people northeast of Santa Fe, according to a bulletin on the New Mexico Fire Information website.

Smoke is seen from a fire in this aerial shot above Eagle Nest, New Mexico, U.S., May 31, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media on June 2, 2018. Justin Hawkins/via REUTERS

About 300 homes were threatened in Cimarron, where officials issued a mandatory evacuation on Friday. The town lies just northeast of the Santa Fe National Forest, which was indefinitely closed to the public on Friday in a rare measure prompted by the heightened fire risk from prolonged drought.

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“The Village of Cimarron is STILL safe,” village councilor Laura Gonzales said on Facebook. “Continue to pray for our community.”

The cause of the fire, which began on Thursday and has been burning through grassland and pine forest, is not known.

A second wildfire started on Friday about 10 miles north of Durango, Colorado, raging across 1,600 acres and forcing the evacuation of about 500 homes near the southern border of the San Juan National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Officials of La Plata County, Colorado, said they opened evacuation centers after ordering residents out of about 825 homes and issuing pre-evacuation notices for residents of another 760 homes.

The Forest Service said the intensity of the Colorado wildfire, known as the 416 Fire, had slightly diminished by Saturday morning and that firefighters were focused on protecting neighborhoods and infrastructure, though containment stood at zero percent.

Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Paul Simao and Rosalba O'Brien

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