State plans enhanced protection
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Firefighters have started patrolling open space areas around New Mexico’s largest metropolitan area as dry conditions intensify and fire danger increases.
The patrols being done by crews with Albuquerque Fire Rescue cover more than 53 square miles (137 square kilometers) that span parts of the mesa west of the city, the foothills on the east side and the Rio Grande Valley.
The patrols will increase later this summer.
Officials say Albuquerque sees many days in which the fire danger reaches “extreme” throughout the year. With this in mind, an operational plan has been developed to provide additional public awareness to wildfire danger and enhanced protection from catastrophic wildfires.
The latest drought map shows close to 70% of the state is dealing with some form drought, from abnormally dry conditions throughout the eastern plains to extreme drought along the New Mexico-Colorado border.
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