Firefighters battle blazes in Texas, NM

Wind-whipped wildfires burned across Texas and southeastern New Mexico on Friday, destroying five homes and prompting evacuation orders in one community.

The 40-square-mile blaze in Knowles, N.M., began as two grass fires but were rapidly spread by winds up to 45 mph, burning across the Texas state line, officials said. No injuries were reported.

"Knowles is the biggest concern right now," said Dan Ware, a New Mexico forestry division spokesman. An evacuation center was set up at Hobbs High School. Authorities did not immediately know what caused the fire.

In Texas, firefighters battled high winds to prevent flames from advancing on hundreds of buildings and two dozen oil and gas structures, officials said. The flames had destroyed at least one home.

No injuries were immediately reported as the Texas blazes had destroyed more than 8 square miles by early evening.

"It's about as bad as we thought it would be," said Lewis Kearney, a Texas Forest Service spokesman.

In western Texas, a King County fire apparently sparked by a vehicle fire had consumed more than 1,000 acres and threatened 230 structures. The flames jumped Highway 82, which was closed in the area, Kearney said.

A fire in Callahan County near the small town of Clyde spread to 600 acres but was 75 percent contained, he said. In Taylor County near Abilene, a 100-acre fire threatened a few homes and two dozen oil and gas structures, Kearney said.

To the southwest in Pecos County near Fort Stockton, firefighters were battling a 2,000-acre fire.

In central Texas, four fires in Hays County south of San Marcos consumed about 500 acres and forced the evacuation of about 40 homes, where at least one home was reportedly destroyed.

Authorities were investigating the possibility that one fire was arson, Kearney said.

The National Weather Service's red-flag warning about the high fire potential was in effect for much of Texas until early Saturday morning. Nearly all of the state except eastern Texas was under a burn ban.

Officials said near record-high temperatures, strong winds, low humidity and dry, brittle grasses across the state were ingredients for devastating wildfires.

They said the conditions were eerily similar to March 12, 2006, when 900,000 acres burned in the Panhandle, killing 12 people and 4,000 livestock in less than 12 hours.