Wildfires force evacuations in New Mexico, along Colorado-Utah border

This photo provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources shows a wildfire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The fire grew by 17 percent to more than 21,000 acres Saturday as officials warned of tough conditions and welcomed help from water-dumping aircraft from the Michigan National Guard. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources)

ALBUQUERQUE???Residents near a privately owned New Mexico ghost town were ordered Saturday to evacuate as a blaze in the Gila National Forest continued to burn erratically, as Colorado crews took to fighting a new fire along the Utah-Colorado border.

Fire officials in New Mexico said Saturday that the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire has shrunk slightly to 82,000 acres but is still zero percent contained because of weather conditions.

The evacuation of Mogollon, a privately owned ghost town, was ordered due to extreme wind around the southwestern New Mexico fire. Four helicopters and more than 500 firefighters from across the state were on hand to fight the blaze but still had to contend with "extreme conditions."

Cities as far away as Albuquerque remained under a health alert until this afternoon due to smoke from the fire, which has spread across the state. Officials were warning residents to limit outdoor activities.

Meanwhile on Saturday, crews in Colorado battled a wildfire that has scorched at least 3,000 acres of rugged canyon land near the Colorado-Utah border. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said the fire started Friday afternoon and is burning in a remote area near Paradox. It is not threatening any structures, and no injuries have been reported.

Shannon Borders, a spokeswoman for The Bureau of Land Management, said sheriff's deputies have evacuated the Buckeye Reservoir area, a popular recreation spot near the Utah border. The Rock Creek and Sinbad Valley areas also were evacuated.

In California, higher humidity and light winds were helping firefighters get ahead of a wildfire that has charred 4,100 acres of tinder-dry grass and brush in rural San Diego County.

A wildfire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula grew by 17 percent to more than 21,000 acres Saturday as officials warned of tough conditions and welcomed help from water-dumping aircraft from the Michigan National Guard. The fire, known as the Duck Lake fire, was 20 percent contained.

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Smoke from n.m. wafts into colo.

Police dispatchers and other authorities along the Front Range and in other parts of Colorado reported receiving calls from residents concerned by the smell of smoke and the haze in the air. Officials said it was due to strong winds kicking up smoke from a massive wildfire that has torched 82,000 acres in southwestern New Mexico. Although much of Colorado is under a "red flag" warning ? meaning that low humidity and high winds create conditions ripe for a fire ? there were no sizable fires in the state as of Saturday afternoon. The Denver Post

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