Updates on Little Bear, Whitewater-Baldy fires
Posted at: 06/14/2012 10:29 AM
By: The Associated Press
RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) - Some residents evacuated from their mountain homes by a fire raging outside the resort town of Ruidoso have begun returning to their neighborhoods.
Officials say the Little Bear fire, which has scorched 58 square miles and destroyed at least 224 homes in the Sierra Blanca range, has been 40 percent contained and firefighters will continue building lines to contain the fire Thursday.
But they note sunny, dry weather will result in more active fire behavior and an increase in visible smoke. Meantime, crews battling the largest fire in state history say they now have that 56 percent contained.
The Whitewater-Baldy fire has scorched 452 square miles of the Gila Wilderness since it was started by lightning on May 16.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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