Wildfires hit six US states, small towns evacuated

A wildfire burned out of control for a fourth day in the steep mountains of southwestern New Mexico today, one of several blazes that have consumed more than 200 square miles (520 square km) of rugged land in six US states.
Efforts to contain the blazes spreading in sparsely populated areas of Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah have been hurt by gusting winds and tinder-dry late-spring conditions.
Several small towns, including the historic Wild West mining town of Mogollon - now nearly a ghost town - were ordered to evacuate, as the spreading fire torched miles forest, brush and grass.
New Mexico's Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire, which was started by lightning 10 days ago, had raged across 82,252 acres as of Friday and officials said the area could now be much larger than that.
"We know that there was significant growth yesterday, but we don't have a hard and fast number," said Fire Information Officer Dan Ware.
More than 580 firefighters and support crew have been fighting the blaze.
"This is the biggest show in the country right now in terms of fire size. So a lot of resources are available to us. We're just not sure we'll be able to do a lot of flying," Ware said.