Aircraft help keep wildfire from New Mexico towns

With flames spreading across wide swaths of northeastern New Mexico's tinder-dry forests, firefighters were taking a stand Wednesday in their fight against the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. to keep it from pushing any closer to the town of Las Vegas and other villages scattered along the fire's shifting fronts.

Bulldozers for days have been scraping fire lines on the outskirts of Las Vegas, population about 13,000, while crews have been conducting burns to clear vegetation along the dozer lines.Airplanes and helicopters dropped more fire retardant as a second line of defense along ridge just west of town in preparation for the intense winds expected over the weekend.Meanwhile, numerous fire engines and crews remained stationed Wednesday on the western edge of town.