New Mexico governor seeks more US aid for wildfire response

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s governor is asking for additional federal assistance to respond to wildfires burning across the state’s north, including one that is the second-largest in the state’s history and that officials estimate has destroyed hundreds of homes. The governor said Friday in a letter to President Joe Biden that New Mexico needs more help than is being provided under a recent disaster declaration. Officials said Saturday that weather conditions still included unhelpful high temperatures and low humidity but that less smoke allowed firefighting aircraft to take to the skies for a second straight day. Elsewhere, a fire burning southwest of Colorado Springs grew to 1.5 square miles overnight.