Under orange sky, largest US wildfire menaces New Mexico towns

Firefighters in northern New Mexico laboured under an apocalyptic orange sky, and vehicles streamed out of the ski area of Angel Fire on Wednesday as wind-driven flames from the state's second-largest blaze on record roared closer to the mountain resort.

With winds gusting beyond 80 km per hour through dense, drought-parched forests, exhausted crews were at loss to stop a wildfire that has raged across a 45km swath of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for more than a month, destroying hundreds of homes.

Spreading through the rugged, tinder-dry landscape with explosive speed, the springtime conflagration has displaced thousands of residents while raising...