The Las Conchas Fire pushed into Santa Clara Canyon on Thursday, burning an estimated 6,000 acres of Santa Clara Pueblo's watershed and cultural sites.

"We are devastated to witness the destruction of our precious homeland," Gov. Walter Dasheno said in a statement.

It wasn't immediately clear what effect the fire might have on Puye Cliff Dwellings, where the ancestors of today's Santa Clara people lived until they began to resettle near the Rio Grande, just south of today's Española.

But the pueblo news release said the fire "continues to destroy cultural sites, forest resources, plants and animals that the people of Santa Clara depend upon for their livelihood and culture."

Fire lines were keeping the forest fire away from Los Alamos residential areas as well as Los Alamos National Laboratory. The lab, which was shut down Monday when the town was evacuated, is expected to stay closed until at least next week.

The fire's shift northeast into Santa Clara Canyon on Wednesday night and Thursday brought the Las Conchas Fire to an estimated 92,756 acres. It's expected to eventually set a record for a New Mexico forest fire, surpassing the Dry Lakes Fire, which in 2003 burned 94,580 acres in the Gila National Forest.

About 200 of Santa Clara Pueblo's 1,000 residents crowded into the pueblo's senior center Thursday evening to hear from Dasheno and federal employees coordinating the fire fight.

This is the fourth time in 13 years that Santa Clara Canyon has been scorched by wildfires that began elsewhere. In 1998, the Oso Complex Fire burned 8,300 acres there. That was followed by the 2000 Cerro Grande Fire and the South Fork Fire last year.

Dasheno said that in 2000 the pueblo regained its ancestral lands in Santa Clara Canyon, which extends west from the central village some 20 miles into the corner of the Valles Caldera. He said the upper streamshed is known as "P'opii Khanu" in Tewa.

"Our canyon is the source of Santa Clara Creek that we rely upon for irrigation, but, more than that, it was a beautiful place of abundance in wildlife, clean water, culturally significant trees and medicinal plants," he said. "Santa Clara alone cannot bear the extreme costs to help Mother Nature restore herself."

Santa Clara Canyon has been closed to the public for the last two weeks due to tinderbox conditions. On Wednesday, Dasheno issued a declaration of emergency.

Dasheno, who has served as governor several times over the last 30 years, told The Associated Press that he had never seen a fire like this one.

"It happened so quickly," he said in the interview. "We were just talking yesterday afternoon with the incident command team about what we would do and how we would attack the situation. Then as we finished the meeting, we went out and saw a huge plume."

The Las Conchas Fire began Sunday in an area of the Santa Fe National Forest just south of N.M. 4, about 12 miles southwest of Los Alamos, and quickly grew to the largest of several forest fires in the state.

About 752 personnel, including seven hotshot crews, have been assigned to the fire, along with four bulldozers, 28 engines and five helicopters, according to the incident command team.

Thirteen residences have been destroyed, three residences have been damaged, three commercial properties have been damaged and two other structures destroyed.

So far, only 3 percent of fire has been contained. However, key fire lines have been holding about a mile west of Los Alamos.

While the fire was growing faster on its northern edge, the fire was creeping more slowly on its southern end.

Today's weather forecast called for winds from the south at 5 mph with higher gusts, high temperatures in the mid-80s, partly cloudy skies and widely scattered but mostly dry thunderstorms.

Heavy smoke from the Las Conchas Fire could reduce visibility in the area.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.