Parts on NM on high alert for fires

ERROR.// A HEAT WAVE HAS PARTS OF THE STATE SIZZLING — AND FIREFIGHTERS ON ALERT. KATIE RYAN IS IN ROSWELL WHERE THE HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE BEING MET WITH MIXED REACTION. IT’S BEEN NEARLY FOUR MONTHS SINCE ROSWELL'S SEEN ANY RAIN. MIX THAT WITH NEAR 90 DEGREE HEAT TODAY AND GUSTING WIND -- AND FIRE OFFICIALS SAY YOU HAVE A RECIPE FOR A BIG FIRE. WITH SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO BREAKING ALL-TIME HIGHS EARLIER THIS WEEK, IT WAS HARD TO FIND MANY RESIDENTS COMPLAINING ABOUT 80-PLUS DEGREE WEATHER, ESPECIALLY IN FEBRUARY. BUT FIRE MARHSALS SAY IF THE AREA DOESN'T SEE SOME MOISTURE SOON, IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE A DEVESTATING FIRE IGNITES. 'we're in caution mode. We understand the vegetation is all dry ...it doesn't take much of a wind to get the fire to spread. Once it gets started, it generates its own wind and it spreads from there.'FIRE MARSHALS SAY WITH DRY GRASSLANDS SURROUNDING THE HIGHWAYS, MOST OF THE FIRES THEY RESPOND TO ARE CAUSED BY CIGARETTES THAT AREN'T COMPLETELY PUT OUT. LIVE IN THE ROSWELL BUREAU, KATIE RYAN,