“A very chaotic situation’: Crews tackle growing wildfires

By FELICIA FONSECA and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Destructive U.S. Southwest fires have burned dozens of homes in northern Arizona and put numerous small villages in New Mexico in the path of danger, as wind-fueled flames chewed up wide swaths of tinder dry forest and grassland and plumes of smoke filled the sky. More than 1,600 firefighters were battling six blazes in New Mexico and three in Arizona that have consumed more than 100 square miles of timber and brush. Just east of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ranchers and other rural inhabitants were abruptly told to leave by law enforcement.