Smoke from wildfire 60 miles away blankets Denver

LOVELAND, Colorado (AP) — A northern Colorado wildfire 60 miles (96 kilometers) away wrapped Denver in a pungent cloud of smoke for several hours Tuesday and complicated the aerial offensive against the spreading mountain blaze, which has killed one person and destroyed more than 100 structures.

In southern New Mexico, a 56-square-mile (145-square-kilometer) fire threatening the village of Ruidoso damaged or destroyed at least 224 homes and cabins, and that number was expected to increase. Workers found only heaps of burned metal and other debris on home sites hit hardest by the Little Bear fire.

\"It\'s truly heartbreaking to see the damage done to this beautiful part of the country,\" New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said after touring the area.

With at least 19 large fires burning in nine U.S. states, President Barack Obama called Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to assure him that the federal government stood ready to provide personnel, equipment and emergency grants for Colorado and other states battling fire. Obama also tried to reach Martinez, but her office said poor reception in the fire zone kept the two from connecting.

The 68-square-mile (176-square-kilometer) High Park Fire in Colorado shrouded downtown Denver, some 60 miles (96 kilometers) south, in a smoky haze early Tuesday. The smoke temporarily grounded the air attack on the fire, but helicopters and tanker planes took to the skies by midday.

The wildfires in the drought-stricken West have tested federal resources.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell announced late Monday the agency was contracting eight heavy air tankers to increase the aging national fleet to 17.

In Colorado\'s Larimer County, authorities and family said Linda Steadman, 62, perished inside her mountain cabin. Her home received two evacuation warnings that weren\'t answered, and a firefighter tried to reach the cabin before fire overtook the site, Sheriff Justin Smith said.