Wildfires

Colorado and New Mexico Wildfires - Update

The massive wildfire burning in southwestern Colorado is finally slowing down a bit. The West Fork fire complex was burning on 127 square miles on Wednesday, 3 square miles more than the day before, thanks to diminished winds.

A furious wildfire torching through the mountains of Southern New Mexico’s Gila National Forest has grown to 127 square miles, forcing some ranchers to ship their cattle out of state as the blaze burns through entire grazing areas.

The Silver Fire was still about 5 miles west of the nearest community, but it has left ranchers in this drought-stricken corner of the state with few choices for feeding their cattle. State agriculture officials said the combination of drought and fire has forced some ranchers to ship what remaining cattle they have to other areas, including South Texas.

Wildfires Burning in Russian Far East

Some 49 forest fires broke out in the Russian Far East on Wednesday. There were 42 fires in Yakutia, five in the Amur region, one in Kamchatka and one in the Khabarovsk territory.

Ten wildfires were put out in Yakutia.

There remain 39 forest fires in the Russian Far East now.

More than 1,600 firemen, almost 80 fire trucks, eight planes and seven helicopters are putting out the blazes.

The Far Eastern Federal District has reported 816 forest fires of a total area exceeding 346,600 hectares in the 2013 wildfire season.