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Firefighting Helicopter Gathers Water in New Mexico

Units in the air and on the ground continued the fight against a wildfire in New Mexico that had grown more than 45,000 acres by May 18.

The Albuquerque District, US Army Corps of Engineers, posted this footage to Facebook which they said was taken on May 3 as a CH-47 Chinook gathered 1,000 gallons of water from Cochiti Lake, headed for hotspots of the Cerro Pelado fire.

As of May 18, the Cerro Pelado fire was estimated to be 45,605 acres in size and was 74 percent contained, according to officials.

The cause of the fire, which began on April 22, was still under investigation, fire officials said. Credit: Albuquerque District, US Army Corps of Engineers via Storyful

Video transcript

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