New Wildfire Burning in New Mexico...05/30/00

PECOS, N.M. (AP) -- A fast-moving wildfire in the Santa Fe National Forest has forced the evacuation of residents about 45 miles from where the largest wildfire in state history burned out of control earlier this month.

The latest blaze, dubbed the Viveash fire, has burned between 1,000 and 2,000 acres of mixed conifer about seven miles northeast of the town of Pecos, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Melissa Wegner said Monday.

No structures have been lost and no injuries had been reported Monday evening in the latest blaze, although two roads were closed. The cause of the fire was being investigated.

Residents in Pecos Canyon were being evacuated from their homes about 30 miles southeast of Santa Fe. Wegner didn't know exactly how many people were involved.

Dry conditions, wind gusts and the rough terrain of the canyon were pushing the fire out of control, Wegner said. A mostly sunny was forecast for today, with temperatures in the 90s.

On May 4, a fire deliberately set to clear brush raged out of control at the Bandelier National Monument, forcing 25,000 people in and around Los Alamos to evacuate for up to five days and scorching more than 47,000 acres. More than 200 homes were burned by the ''controlled burn'' authorities said was mismanaged by National Park Service personnel.

Meanwhile, fire crews Monday contained a 10-acre fire that broke out in dry forest just northeast of Ruidoso, about 110 miles northeast of Las Cruces, said fire information officer Don Scronek. The cause of the fire was not known Monday.

At the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico, fire crews contained a 35-acre blaze caused by an unattended campfire. The fire broke out about Saturday afternoon in ponderosa pines.

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