Changing winds, expected to continue, bedevil firefighters near Las Vegas

May 3—A monstrous, wind-driven wildfire forced the evacuation of a psychiatric hospital and a jail in Las Vegas, N.M., and put more communities on edge as crews worked to halt its spread toward the city Monday.

Surging winds that changed direction pushed the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fire southeast toward Las Vegas on Sunday and early Monday, while making it grow bigger and less contained — an erratic pattern that fire managers worry could repeat itself in the coming days.

Although crews working through the night had success fending off the fire at the northwest borders of Las Vegas, it will continue to be an unpredictable challenge, said Rocky Gilbert, spokesman for the incident management team combating the fire.

"As you've all seen through these last few weeks, the winds can be our worst enemy, and that switches a lot," Gilbert said during a Monday afternoon briefing.

The menacing fire prompted the state Department of Health to transfer patients from the Behavioral Health Institute to a variety of places in New Mexico.

The institute's executive director, Timothy Shields, said in a statement patients and staff were evacuated overnight.

Adult psychiatric patients were sent to two secured units at the state Veterans' Home in Truth or Consequences. Long-term patients were transported to Genesis HealthCare facilities in Albuquerque and the Fort Bayard Medical Center near Silver City.

Forensic patients, including those convicted of violent crimes, received police escort. The women were taken to Santa Fe and the men went to Santa Rosa.

Kids at Care were transferred to Sequoyah Adolescent Treatment Center in Albuquerque.

Meanwhile, inmates at the San Miguel County Detention Center have been moved to jails in neighboring counties, including Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Taos and Colfax, San Miguel County Manager Joy Ansley said.

By late Monday, the fire had consumed 138,912 acres and was 20 percent contained, dropping from the 30 percent containment that was reached earlier in the weekend before the fire made an explosive jump, U.S. Forest Service officials reported.

Fire managers said the effort to combat the blaze had swelled to 1,052 people, and more help is being requested.

The Hermits Peak section of the fire began as a prescribed burn that went out of control last month. It melded with another fire, dubbed Calf Canyon, to create a huge blaze officials fear could torch double the area it has already burned.

Local officials say they are prepared to evacuate Las Vegas, a city of 13,000 residents, if necessary. On Monday, the Camp Luna and Cinder Road communities were added to the evacuation list. Many people in the city, even those not ordered to evacuate, began leaving Monday.

"Like we've said ... it's kind of a waiting game. We're kind of at the mercy of the winds," said Ansley.

Crews made progress creating containment lines, by hand and with a dozer, that are keeping the fire in check north of United World College — preventing any structural damage on the campus — and south of Mora, Gilbert said.

In Sapello, teams burned control lines around a gas station to protect fuel tanks that could explode if the flames reached them.

"We're holding our own, and that's in a good spot at the moment," Gilbert said.

Tuesday forecasts call for much of the same weather — warm and dry with gusts up to 45 mph in the afternoon throughout Northern New Mexico, said Randall Hergert, National Weather Service meteorologist in Albuquerque.

Crews were expected to get slight relief Monday night, with temperatures cooling and humidity reaching 65 percent, but it also was expected to be short-lived, Hergert said. When the winds kick up and temperatures rise Tuesday, it will be "abysmally dry again," he said.

On Wednesday, 25 mph winds will blow from the west, gusting up to 35 mph, which doesn't bode well because they'll again push the fire east toward Las Vegas, Hergert said. The winds are predicted to let up Thursday and be more in the 20 mph range, helping firefighting efforts, he added.

With the fire encroaching on the city, the American Red Cross decided to move its shelter operation Monday from the Old Memorial Middle School to Glorieta Adventure Camps. The county will continue to run a shelter at the middle school.

"The move is out of safety concerns for residents and Red Cross staff and volunteers," Red Cross regional spokeswoman Melody Birkett wrote in an email.

Southwest of Los Alamos, the Cerro Pelado Fire had burned 22,314 acres by Monday and was 10 percent contained. A posted map shows the fire has touched part of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

All of Los Alamos County was put on "ready" status, the first step in preparing for evacuation.

But Monday, conditions were relatively favorable, as seen by the flames creeping slowly down a hillside rather than being wind-driven, said Mike Lindbery, spokesman for the incident management team overseeing firefighting efforts.

"It's manageable at this point. Tomorrow absolutely will be a different story," Lindbery said, referring to impending weather changes.

In the meantime, officials reported making solid progress on the Cooks Peak Fire, about 46 miles northwest of Las Vegas. That fire has scorched 59,065 acres and was 69 percent contained.

The Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fire mostly threatened western Las Vegas. For that reason, institutions such as New Mexico Highlands University on the east side of town were spared evacuation.

Highlands' students are mostly from the local area, so they can easily return home if evacuation is ordered, said Emily Withnall, a university spokeswoman.

To help in fire effort, the university is housing police officers, firefighters, Red Cross volunteers, displaced university employees and people with disabilities who have evacuated but are physically unable to sleep on cots in regular shelters, Withnall said.

"If it does come to needing to evacuate students, we're prepared to do so," she said.