Under an orange sky, largest US wildfire menaces New Mexico towns

Blaze has burnt 95,881 hectares of land - an area larger than all five boroughs of New York City

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  A satellite image shows the fire lines of the Hermits Peak wildfire east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Maxar Technologies / Reuters

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  New Mexico National Guard Aviation soldiers drop water on the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires in northern New Mexico. New Mexico National Guard / AP

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  A man prepares to leave the area with his animals as authorities battle the nearby Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon wildfires. Reuters

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  Charred trees and vegetation burnt during the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires in New Mexico. Reuters

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  A man walks through his property, burnt during the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires. Reuters

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  The Calf Creek and Hermits Peak fires are burning north of the ski resort town of Angel Fire, New Mexico. Reuters

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  Smoke billows from the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires in New Mexico. Reuters

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  A burnt home following a wildfire in Sapello, New Mexico. The New Mexican / AP

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  A bicycle lies among the remains of a burnt mobile home in San Ignacio, New Mexico. The New Mexican / AP

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  Twisted metal roofing and ashes are all that is left of part of the Pendaries Village and Golf Resort near Mora, New Mexico. Santa Fe New Mexican / AP

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  Blackened tombstones and statues stand at the Rociada Cemetery after fire tore through the area near Mora, New Mexico. Santa Fe New Mexican / AP

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  A man overlooks his burnt property following the fire. Santa Fe New Mexican / AP

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  A flare up near Cleveland, New Mexico, darkens the sky. Santa Fe New Mexican / AP

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  A firefighter conducts a prescribed burn to combat the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon wildfires near Las Vegas, New Mexico. Reuters

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  US President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration that will bring new financial resources to remote stretches of New Mexico devastated by fire since early April. The Albuquerque Journal / AP

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  A firefighter works to combat the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon wildfire near Las Vegas, New Mexico. Reuters

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  A plane drops water to combat the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon wildfires near Las Vegas, New Mexico. Reuters

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  A slurry bomber passes between the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires and homes on the west side of Las Vegas, New Mexico. The Albuquerque Journal / AP

Firefighters worked under an apocalyptic orange sky and vehicles streamed out of Angel Fire, New Mexico, on Wednesday as the largest active US wildfire advanced on the ski resort and nearby town of Taos.

With winds blowing at more than 80 kilometres through parched forests, there was no way to stop a blaze that has raged up the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, destroying hundreds of homes.

Already the second-largest fire in state history, the blaze started in a period considered unusually early in the year and has burned for over a month, raising fears the drought-hit US South-West is in for a long, brutal fire season.

As smoke hung heavy outside Angel Fire's supermarket, Almeada Martinson said she planned to pack her photos, guns, two dogs and cat, then flee to Taos, 27 kilometres to the west.

“I'm totally anxious and terrified, this is my home,” said Ms Martinson, general manager of a construction business, as ash swirled around her feet.

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, soaring to almost 4,000 metres, used to get spring snowstorms of about half a metre but climate change has lowered the snowpack, biologists say, leaving communities vulnerable to fire.

At Angel Fire's airstrip, strong winds grounded firefighting helicopters. To the south at Black Lake, firefighters huddled around a map and discussed which properties they should try to save.

In immediate danger was the village of Chacon, where locals were surrounded by fire on two sides after they stayed behind to defend centuries-old ranches, firefighters said.

To the north, residents of Taos Canyon cut down trees around homes to defend them from fire after the area about six kilometres from the centre of Taos was told to be ready to evacuate.

A century of fire suppression and court bans on logging since the 1990s have left New Mexico's northern forests overcrowded and clogged with fuel, biologists say.

The fire now threatens lands where the Picuris Pueblo and Taos Pueblo Native American tribes have hunted and gathered building materials for about 1,000 years.

The blaze has burnt over 95,881 hectares of land, an area larger than all five boroughs of New York City. It is 33 per cent contained.