By Andrew Hay

TAOS (N.M.) – Monday’s wildfire that raged for over 40 days in New Mexico was the worst in recorded history. It forced evacuation of a ski resort in Santa Fe and other villages located in dry mountains east of Santa Fe.

Unsustainable winds drove the fire torches an area as large as Los Angeles. This has resulted in hundreds of houses and other property being destroyed by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

As the fire raged into the Pecos Wilderness, evacuation warnings were sent to residents of Sipapu and nearby communities for 13 miles (21km) south of Taos.

Hermits Peak Calf Canyon has sparked a fire that scorched 298,060 acres (11,000 ha), more than any other fire. It is now larger than 2012’s Whitewater Baldy fire. The Santa Fe National Forest said that it had been contained 27% of the time.

On April 6, the U.S. Forest Service was unable to control a controlled fire meant to stop larger wildfires. The conflagration lasted 45 miles (72 km) This blaze then fused with another. The reason is being investigated.

Indo-Hispanos villages have used watersheds and forests for generations to provide irrigation, building material and firewood.

The Santa Fe plaza was choked by smoke from the flames that erupted within 20 miles (32.5 km) of Santa Fe, which is a popular tourist spot. This prompted evacuations to other mountain towns on Sunday.

According to biologists, flames race through fuel-rich forests after centuries of suppression and logging bans.

They claim that climate change has reduced snowpack and made forests more dry, and that a 25-year drought has left trees vulnerable to pests and diseases.