Wildfires in Californa, Arizona and New Mexico Burn Thousands of Acres

The firefighting aircraft included a converted DC-10, eight air tankers, three helitankers and helicopters.

Santa Barbara County firefighters stand by for structure protection as the Scherpa Fire consumes heavy brush near Highway 101 on July 16, 2016.

Fires become especially risky when sundowners are formed by high pressure inland to the north and low pressure over the ocean to the south, causing gusty winds to sweep down the face of the mountains.

Hundreds of people were forced from campgrounds after the fire erupted Wednesday.

Wildfires moved far and fast because of overgrown hillsides and canyons that hadn’t burned in more than 60 years, the LA Times reported.

More than 1,200 people worked to contain a wildfire that burned about 1,400 acres west of Santa Barbara, Calif., Thursday night.

The fire has burned through timber in central parts of the state, pushing smoke towards cities more than 160km away as flames continued to spread.

The Dog Head wildfire burns as seen from the town of Tajique, near the Manzano Mountains on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in Tajique, N.M. Authorities don’t have a containment estimate yet for a wildfire burning in the Manzano Mountains southeast of Albuquerque but say good weather helped firefighters attack the fire overnight.

Residents have been urged to monitor the status of the fire on the County of Santa Barbara website.

Weekend fire dangers already were expected to worsen with the arrival of an extreme heatwave across the Southwest, including New Mexico, where a wildfire has destroyed two dozen homes.

The blaze burned down to USA 101 overnight, forcing closure of one of California’s major north-south highways from 8:30 p.m. Thursday until it was reopened shortly before dawn Friday.

“This is a serious fire”, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said.

Fire authorities say Sundowners are expected through the weekend, possibly peaking in intensity Saturday evening.

Officials said sundowner winds and other weather patterns favorable to wildfires are likely to continue. “We want to make sure New Mexicans understand that”.

In east-central Arizona, progress was made against a 12-square-mile blaze that broke out Wednesday south of Show Low.

The fire, which stretches across 4,000 acres, is 5% contained and has more than 1,200 emergency workers devoting to stopping it, according to the county.