Forest officials prepare for wildfires

SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico forestry officials are looking at the skies and hoping for more rain but at the same time they're preparing for what may be a terrible wildfire season.

More than 400 wild land firefighters trained in Ruidoso earlier this month. The Santa Fe New Mexican ( http://bit.ly/zNFAl5 ) reports about the same number trained in January and another training session is scheduled for March.

Things are already heating up in parts of the state. A 1,300-acre grass fire burned near Silver City two weeks ago, and the Bernardo Fire near the state Bernardo Wildlife Area and the Rio Grande south of Belen had scorched 40 acres of brush and grass by Thursday.

Lack of wind and mild temperatures helped firefighters control the Bernardo fire.