N.M. residents return as fire ebbs

ALBUQUERQUE -- Evacuees returned to their homes along the Rio Grande on Thursday as firefighters tried to stamp out the remnants of a smoldering blaze that transformed verdant riverside forest into a patchwork of black and gray.

"There will be pockets of fuel that could flare up," said Perry Jewett, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter from Black Hills, S.D., called in to tackle the suspected arson fire that was sparked Wednesday night and scorched 700 to 800 acres.

About 200 firefighters were on the scene as two National Guard helicopters dumped massive buckets of water on the remnants of the blaze, which was contained Thursday morning.

The fire forced about 200 people to abandon their homes, many in fancy subdivisions in Albuquerque's north valley.

Evacuees began returning home Thursday after spending the night in local hotels or at the homes of friends and relatives.

"The sky was just orange," said Marlene Roberts, who with her husband David, fled their home after he placed garden sprinklers on the roof.

"We could see these huge flames, and then you'd see just huge fireballs and these loud explosions. It was so eerie; both fascinating and terrifying at the same time," she said Thursday morning after she returned home.

The fire was the second one in the Rio Grande bosque in as many days.

The first fire, just to the south of the second, burned 701 acres after it was started Tuesday.

Investigators were looking for an adult who might have been responsible for the second fire and for two juveniles who might have been touching off fireworks that sparked the first fire, Mayor Martin Chavez said.

Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday ordered a 19-mile stretch of the parched bosque in Albuquerque closed through July 4. The area is bounded by Sandia Pueblo on the north and Isleta Pueblo on the south.

The bosque -- popular with bicyclists, joggers, walkers, birders and nature lovers -- is laced with trails and features a paved path for cyclists and inline skaters.

"We have hundreds of daily users," said Jay Hart, superintendent of the Albuquerque Open Spaces Division.

The city's open space rangers and other law enforcement officers will "be doing their best to keep people out of the area," he said.

The New Mexico National Guard deployed 120 soldiers and airmen to help ensure the safety of the public, said Brig. Gen. Kenny Montoya, the Guard's commanding officer.

The bosque features cottonwood trees as well as nonnative Russian olive trees and salt cedar brush -- both heavy users of valuable ground water.

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