New Mexico fire nearly contained

This house near Ruidoso was one of 28 destroyed over the weekend.

RUIDOSO, New Mexico (CNN) -- A fire that destroyed 28 resort homes over the weekend in south-central New Mexico was almost under control Monday, and residents who had been evacuated will be returning home, a National Park Service spokesman said.

"We're beginning to scale back the number of folks we have here and the amount of equipment we have here," Dan Oltrogge of the National Park Service said about the Kokopelli fire. Everything should be scaled back by Wednesday, he said.

A much larger blaze that has so far burned about 12,000 acres in the Hondo Valley area east of Ruidoso will not be fully contained until Wednesday, predicted Ignacio Peralta, a fire information officer from Carson National Forest in Taos who was aiding local officials. A small number of residents were briefly forced to abandon their homes.

Peralta said two smaller fires were under control after burning more than 160 acres in largely unpopulated areas on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation south of Ruidoso.

Winds, which gusted to 60 mph Saturday when the Kokopelli fire began north of Ruidoso, were down to about 10 mph Monday morning, helping those fighting the blaze, Oltrogge said.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO CNN's Sean Callebs has more on the wildfires that destroyed 28 upscale homes in Ruidoso, New Mexico (March 25) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION Photo gallery: Images of the blaze

Over the weekend, 238 people, 34 engines, five air tankers, two air attack planes, 12 bulldozers and eight water tenders were involved in the fight.

Authorities said the fire was ignited by fireplace ashes someone dumped outside, ultimately scorching more than 800 acres and causing about $5 million in damage. The causes of the other three fires were under investigation.

The area has been parched by drought in recent months, making thick groves of pine trees and grassland highly combustible, said Ruidoso Fire Department spokesman James Mason.

The fire forced the evacuation of about 1,300 people, some of whom sought shelter with relief agencies.

"Some of them are going to find they've lost their homes. Most of them are going to be happy, I think, because the majority of the homes were saved," Oltrogge said.