A blaze has burned about 1,200 acres west of the Rio Grande near the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
State Forestry Division spokesman Dan Ware said the fire's growth is due primarily to a burnout operation.
He said crews spent the night fighting fire with fire -- intentionally fighting vegetation north of the blaze.
The Marcial Fire is burning mostly salt cedar on private land.
Ware said no structures were threatened, and no injuries have been reported.
He said investigators would be trying to determine the cause of the fire that began Wednesday.
The fire is bounded on the east and west by an irrigation channel and the Rio Grande.
Ware said firefighters used bulldozers to clear a line on the southern end of the blaze.
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