Fire crews in New Mexico are battling two growing wild blazes that have scorched thousands of acres, spurred evacuation calls for dozens of homes and poured smoke into the touristy state capital.
State officials say the uncontained blaze near Santa Fe has spread to 10 square miles, making it apparently the largest of several wildfires burning in the West as it placed the city under a blanket of haze. Thick smoke also covered the Gallinas Canyon and Las Vegas, N.M.
The fire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest is burning just 25 miles from the city, prompting the Red Cross to set up an emergency shelter at a high school.
Officials asked residents in about 140 summer homes to evacuate as a crew of more than 400 battled flames near the communities of Pecos and Tres Lagunas.
Another New Mexico blaze, the Thompson Ridge fire near Jemez Springs, has grown to about 2 square miles.
Forty to 50 homes in the area have been evacuated as around 200 crew members and a helicopter fight the blaze.