EAGLE NEST, N.M. – A wildfire in northern New Mexico jumped and closed a state highway as it burned 7 square miles of grass and pine, including part of the Boy Scouts’ Philmont Scout Ranch.
A top-tier incident management team is being assigned to the fire, which crossed State Route 64 between Eagle Nest Lake and Cimarron in Colfax County after starting Thursday. The cause isn’t known.
Officials say 150 homes are threatened but that no structures have burned.
State Forestry spokeswoman Wendy Mason says the fire is burning on state and private land, including part of Philmont. Its website says no participants are now at the ranch and that all staff is accounted for.
Firefighting aircraft are using Eagle Nest Lake as a water source.
