ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —  Firefighters have managed to keep a blaze that has torched more than 59 homes in central New Mexico from growing for several days, and they're hopeful they can keep it up in the face of dry, gusty conditions.

"It's really looking good," fire information officer Murt Sullivan said of the firefighting effort. But, he added: "We really need some rain."

The human-caused fire just west of the small communities of Torreon and Manzano has burned about 21 square miles, or 13,709 acres, since it began April 15. The acreage increased slightly Wednesday due to more accurate mapping, Sullivan said.

The fire, which is 75 percent contained, had forced the evacuation of about 400 people. The last of them were allowed to return to the area Tuesday.

Wind tested the southeastern containment lines Wednesday, but Sullivan said crews were able to keep the flames in check despite gusts of up to 38 mph.

More wind and dry conditions were forecast for the next few days, he said.

There are 774 people assigned to the blaze along with 30 engines, 13 water tenders and three bulldozers. Five helicopters have been dumping loads of water on burning areas.

The fire has been burning bone-dry oak brush and pinon, juniper and mixed conifer trees on the east side of the Manzanos, where terrain varies from relatively flat lower areas to rough higher country.

The fire has cost almost $9 million to fight so far.

In south-central New Mexico, crews were mopping up a 3,860-acre _ or 6-square-mile _ blaze in the Sacramento Mountains on Mescalero Apache land, said fire information officer Tom Berglund.

Wind had been forecast to gust up to 30 mph Wednesday, but Berglund said conditions turned out to be more favorable, allowing crews to get some work done to ensure that what's left of the fire stays within containment lines.

The fire began May 1 about two miles southeast of Mescalero. It's 80 percent contained, Berglund said.

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