Alva Review-Courier -

Over 1,000 firefighters backed by bulldozers and aircraft battled the largest active wildfire in the U.S., after strong winds had pushed it across some containment lines and closer to a small city in northern New Mexico.

Calmer winds on Saturday aided the firefighting effort after gusts accelerated the fire's advance to a point on Friday when "we were watching the fire march about a mile every hour," said Jayson Coil, a fire operations official.

Ash carried 7 miles (11 kilometers) through the air had fallen on Las Vegas, population about 13,000, and firefighters were trying to prevent the fire...