Kenneth Bachicha poses in his empty classroom as his students work remotely from home on video writing about video games in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Monday, May 9, 2022. In Las Vegas, school officials in the district closest to the fire announced Monday afternoon that in-person school would resume Tuesday, with exceptions for children displaced by the flames or health conditions that make them vulnerable to smoke. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Kenneth Bachicha teaches from his empty classroom as his students work remotely from home on video writing about video games in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Monday, May 9, 2022. In Las Vegas, school officials in the district closest to the fire announced Monday afternoon that in-person school would resume Tuesday, with exceptions for children displaced by the flames or health conditions that make them vulnerable to smoke. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Reddened by wildfire smoke, the sun is seen reflected off windows at the train station in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Wildland firefighters from various cities in California leave the The Castañeda Hotel after eating a hot meal in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The hotel is offering meals for displaced residents and firefighters. For many, it’s the first meal they’ve hot meal had in days, or the first with silverware and a table. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
A sunset seen through a wall of wildfire smoke from the Amtrak train station in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The Castañeda Hotel, right, hosted meals for residents and firefighters this week with sponsorships from restaurants and other businesses. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
A sunset is seen through plumes of wildfire smoke in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
A sunset is seen through plumes wildfire smoke in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Reddened by wildfire smoke, the sun is seen reflected off windows at the train station in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burns in the hills outside of Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
Smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire drifts over Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
Reddened by wildfire smoke, the sun is seen reflected off windows at the train station in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Wildland firefighters from various cities in California leave the The Castañeda Hotel after eating a hot meal in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The hotel is offering meals for displaced residents and firefighters. For many, it’s the first meal they’ve hot meal had in days, or the first with silverware and a table. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
A sunset seen through a wall of wildfire smoke from the Amtrak train station in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The Castañeda Hotel, right, hosted meals for residents and firefighters this week with sponsorships from restaurants and other businesses. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
A sunset is seen through plumes of wildfire smoke in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
A sunset is seen through plumes wildfire smoke in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Reddened by wildfire smoke, the sun is seen reflected off windows at the train station in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Area residents have been on and off of evacuation orders of the past month as fires grow and move with intense and unpredictable winds. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire drifts over Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
The Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire burns in the hills outside of Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
Smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire drifts over Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
The Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire burns south of Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
The Calf Canyon/Hermit Peak Fire burns south of Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Robert Browman/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
A new plume of smoke is rising from the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fires burning just west of Las Vegas, N.M., Saturday, May 7, 2022. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP) 
Wildland firefighters from several agencies throughout the country wait along state road 283 to be sent into the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon Fires burning just west of Las Vegas, N.M. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal) 
Burned underbrush can be seen across the road from United World College of the American West, a boarding school evacuated due to wildfires as seen outside Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. School officials were able to visit the grounds earlier this week after winds and fires waned. Students at the boarding school, most of whom are from overseas, have been moved to a summer camp outside Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Firehoses lay on the ground in the evacuation area near Mora, N.M., on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, where firefighters have been battling the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fire for weeks. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7, and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
Gabriella Duran helps at the Mora Head Start building sort through food donated to families choosing to remain in Mora, N.M., on Wednesday, May 4, 2022. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7, and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
A flare up near Cleveland, just down 519 from Mora, N.M. darkens the sky on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, where firefighters have been battling the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fire for weeks. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7, and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
Twisted metal roofing and ashes remain of the Pendaries Village & Golf Resort restaurant and clubhouse in the evacuation area near Mora, N.M., Wednesday, May 4, 2022, where firefighters have been battling the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fire for weeks. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7, and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
Johnny Trujillo, 53, talks about battling the blaze that destroyed both his sister’s home and his truck in the evacuation area near Mora, N.M., on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, where firefighters have been battling the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fire for weeks. Many residents have resisted the evacuation orders opting to stay and protect their homes to face nature’s fury. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7 and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
Twisted metal roofing and ashes remain of the Pendaries Village & Golf Resort restaurant and clubhouse in the evacuation area near Mora, N.M., on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, where firefighters have been battling the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fire for weeks. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7, and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
Blackened tombstones and statues stand at the Rociada Cemetery after fire tore through the area in the evacuation area near Mora, N.M., on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, where firefighters have been battling the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon fire for weeks. Many residents have resisted the evacuation orders opting to stay and protect their homes to face nature’s fury. Weather conditions described as potentially historic are on tap for New Mexico on Saturday, May 7 and over the next several days as the largest fire burning in the U.S. chews through more tinder-dry mountainsides. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP) 
Wildfire evacuee Domingo Martinez gets a haircut from Jessica Aragón outside an emergency shelter in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Martinez left his home in a wooded rural area northwest of Las Vegas and stayed in a safer neighborhood with his son. The people lined up behind him are meeting with federal officials for help with assistance claims. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Wildfire evacuees Paul T. Vigil, center left, and Domingo Martinez, both of Manuelitas, N.M., greet each other at a shelter and supply depot at a middle school in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Vigil has slept at the shelter for the past 15 days and helped volunteers loading and unloading supplies. Martinez is staying with his son and came to the shelter for a haircut. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio) 
Liz Birmingham, 66, trains her dog Ciel at a class outside the Carnegie Library in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. She said living in the city unnerving, as smoke and fire fluctuate with the winds, and some neighborhoods have been under evacuation advisories. The blue sky on the left is typical of New Mexico, while the haze on the right is from smoke from wildfires that have raged for over two weeks. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)
LAS VEGAS, N.M. | Schoolchildren in a northern New Mexico community that had been threatened by a wildfire were expected to resume in-person classes Tuesday while residents on the fire’s northern edges remained under evacuation orders.
The West Las Vegas School District said exceptions would be made for students still displaced by what’s the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. or those whose health has been affected by the smoke.
Meanwhile, firefighters worked in rugged terrain ahead of the massive blaze trying to clear brush and stop the flames from burning more homes in the Rocky Mountain foothills.
The wildfire — intensified by decades of drought, warmer temperatures and spring winds — has charred 308 square miles (798 square kilometers) of tinder-dry ponderosa forests. Thousands of people have had to flee the flames and some 300 structures, including homes, have been destroyed.
Crews have spent days working to protect ranch homes scattered through the area and stamping out small fires that jumped ahead of the main blaze.
“So far they’ve had great luck in catching those,” said fire information officer Joel Barnett.
Wind will continue to be a factor this week, along with low humidity, but to varying degrees depending on the day. Fire officials predicted part of the massive blaze would push north into rugged terrain that is difficult for firefighters to access.
“This isn’t a surprise to us. All the models showed this probably was going to happen,” said fire operations section chief Todd Abel.
The region’s largest population center — Las Vegas, New Mexico, home to 13,000 people — remained largely safe from the flames. Some residents were allowed to return over the weekend.
Early Monday, West Las Vegas High School was empty but for a single instructor teaching remotely. Schools in the district pivoted to remote learning, something they had planned as a contingency in case of a rise in coronavirus cases.
“I’ve been preparing, not for wildfire, but for something like this,” said mass media teacher Kenneth Bachicha.
Elsewhere in northern New Mexico, a wildfire near the federal government’s key facilities for nuclear research prompted Los Alamos National Laboratory and others in the area to begin preparing for evacuations. Officials stressed that there was no immediate threat to the lab itself.
That fire has burned nearly 64 square miles (165 square kilometers).
Officials said some medically fragile residents and large animals already have been moved out of the area to lessen the traffic congestion should evacuations be ordered. They anticipated residents would have at least a day or two notice if they need to flee.
“If the fire gets its fifth gear, it will be here sooner than we want it to be,” said incident commander Rich Harvey. “We’re doing everything we can to check it.”
Crews in Arizona were dealing with strong winds Monday as they battled a fire near the U.S.-Mexico border that forced several dozen people from their homes.