SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Two fires that merged to create the largest wildfire in New Mexico history have both been traced to planned burns set by U.S. forest managers.
U.S. Forest Service investigators announced Friday they have tracked the source of one of the fires to the remnants of a planned winter fire that lay dormant through snowstorms only to flare up again in April. The other fire was previously traced to a planned burn that escaped control on April 6.
The findings shift responsibility more
squarely toward the U.S. Forest Service for initiating a natural disaster that has destroyed at least 330 homes.