As the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. marches across northern New Mexico, residents have been guided by their faith and their connection to each other and the land.
This May 4, 2022 image courtesy of Laura Paskus shows the silhouette of a cross amid smokey skies where hundreds of firefighters are battling a massive wildfire burning in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near the community of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
“You're trying not to panic — maybe it's not real — just asking for miracles, asking for it not to affect our valley and stop," she said. “There's not going to be any letup in these winds,” said John Pendergrast, an air resource adviser on the fire. Religion is infused in homes across the mountains, where crosses hang above many doors. Elected officials and fire managers frequently credited prayer when winds calmed enough to allow firefighters to get a better handle on the blaze. They prayed even more when things got tough. Some started novenas, or nine-day prayers, and encouraged family and friends to join in.
By the grace of God, he said, his father-in-law's ranch house in El Carmen survived the fire, and so did his childhood home in Ledoux. He's unsure about his current residence in Mora amid a valley prized for its Christmas trees. More recently, the trees gave her the solace she needed to write a chapter in a book about female trailblazers.
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