Big progress on wildfires, but dangerous winds on the way

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and MARGERY A. BECK
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Firefighters have been making significant progress on the biggest wildfires burning unusually hot and fast for this time of year in the western U.S. But forecasters from the Southwest to the southern High Plains are warning of the return the next two days of the same gusty winds and critical fire conditions that sent wildland blazes racing across the landscape last week. Some of the nearly 1,000 firefighters battling the biggest fire in drought-stricken New Mexico cut away brush and burned out any extra fuel Wednesday. It’s burned about 94 square miles. And hotter, drier, windier weather is in the forecast into the weekend.