HOUSTON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Roughly 300 structures have been destroyed in U.S. southwestern mountain state of New Mexico as nearly two-week-long large wildfires are feared to be strengthened by high winds, dry air and warmer temperature in the coming days, authorities said on Friday.

       The Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires in northwestern New Mexico had burned nearly 66,000 acres as of Friday morning and only 37 percent had been contained, the state's fire department updated on its website on Friday.

       When wind-fanned flames reach heights of more than 5 feet, crews can no longer attack the fire aggressively at its edges and must move farther away to a more defensive posture, said Mike Johnson, a spokesman for the incident management team overseeing the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires.

       "At some point it becomes unsafe for us to do any direct fire suppression," Johnson told local media outlet Santa fe New Mexican, noting stronger winds also prevent aircraft from making water drops that help cool the fire and allow ground crews to push in closer to build tighter containment lines.

       Another large fire, the Cerro Pelado Fire, which started one week ago and just 7 miles east of the village of Jemez Springs, also in northwestern part of the state, is burning in ponderosa pine and mixed conifer trees and brush with only 15 percent contained. Three homes were lost in the fire and 7,245 acres had been burnt as of Friday, according to the state's fire department.

       On Thursday afternoon, a new fire, named the Freelove Fire, started on the western side of the Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Freelove Canyon area, said the fire department on Friday, predicting more fire activity in that area in the coming days as high winds may prohibit the use of aircraft and thus restrict ground resource work.

       Earlier this week, a 10-acre wildfire was reported on Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation, about four miles east of Alamo. State and federal fire teams responded.

       In Ruidoso, the McBride Fire, which destroyed 207 homes earlier this month, was 95 percent contained Thursday, while the accompanying Nogal Canyon Fire was fully contained, local media reported.

       More than 20 wildfires burned in at least 16 of the state's 33 counties last week, bolstered by gusty winds and drought conditions, the state's governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said on Saturday.

       Northern New Mexico was expected to get winds picking up at sunrise Friday to more than 40 mph near the fires, said Jennifer Shoemake, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Albuquerque, the state's largest city.

       On Friday afternoon, the gusts were expected peak at 50 mph to 60 mph, while humidity remains in the 10 percent range, increasing the fire hazards, Shoemake said.

       "Be prepared, pack your bags," Mora County Undersheriff Rick Padilla warned residents. "We don't know what's going to happen."

       "The wildfires in Mora are reaching catastrophic levels," state lawmaker Roger Montoya said on Thursday in a statement.

       Wildfires have already burned more than 173,000 acres across the state so far this year, more than the figures in seven of the last eight years, according to the latest data from the Southwest Coordination Center.

       Wildfire season in the region normally starts in May or June but this year is dangerously early. CNN Meteorologist Monica Garrett said on Friday that New Mexico in April had seen a year's worth of fire activity, citing dire fire weather and ongoing megadrought leaving no moisture in the soil.