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The virtually unchecked wildfire is fueling experts' predictionsthat this is a preview of things to come as states across the Westcontend with a dangerous recipe of wind, low humidity andtinder-dry fuels. The Whitewater-Baldy blaze has charred more than 190,000 acres, ornearly 300 square miles, in Gila National Forest and has become the largest wildfire burning in the country. IN PICTURES: New Mexico wildfires Gov. Susana Martinez viewed the fire from a New Mexico National Guard helicopter Thursday and saw the thick smoke shrouding some of thesteep canyons that are inaccessible to firefighters. She describedthe terrain as "impossible," saying there was no way forfirefighters to directly attack the flames in the rugged areas ofwilderness. "It's going to keep going up," she said of the acreageburned. "Be prepared for that." Along the fire's northern edge, Martinez spotted crews doingburnout operations designed to slow the erratic blaze, which hassurpassed last year's Las Conchas fire as the state's largest ever.That fire charred 156,593 acres and threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratory , the nation's premier nuclear facility. From the air, Martinez could see the blanket of smoke stretchingfor miles. She used words like daunting and enormous, fitting sincefire managers said the blaze could smolder until the region getssignificant rainfall during the summer monsoon season. More than 1,200 firefighters are at the massive blaze near the Arizona border. It has destroyed a dozen cabins and eight outbuildings,fire information officer Iris Estes said. Experts say persistent drought, climate change and shifts in landuse and firefighting strategies mean other western states likelywill see similar giant fires this season. "We've been in a long drought cycle for the last 20 years, andconditions now are great for these type of fires," said StevePyne, author of "Tending Fire: Coping with America 's Wildland Fires" and a life science professor at Arizona State University . "Everything is in line." Agencies in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona are bracing for the worst. Many counties haveestablished emergency telephone and email notification systems towarn of wildfires, and most states have enlisted crews from otherjurisdictions to be ready when the big ones come. "It's highly likely that these fires are going to get so bigthat states are going to need outside resources to fightthem," said Jeremy Sullens, a wildland fire analyst at the National Interagency Fire Center . I am an expert from tinplatesheet.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Prepainted Steel Coil , Tin Plate Coil, Printed Tinplate,and more.
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