Potentially historic winds forecast as firefighters battle New Mexico wildfire

Planes and helicopters used as hundreds work feverishly to contain largest fire burning in US

Extreme wind conditions described as potentially historic were forecast for New Mexico on Saturday and for the next several days as hundreds of firefighters and a fleet of airplanes and helicopters worked feverishly to bolster lines around the largest fire burning in the US.

Many families already have been left homeless and thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in north-eastern New Mexico.