NM Firefighter Critically Injured Battling Wildfire

A wildland firefighter was critically injured battling a New Mexico wildfire Monday.

The U.S. Forest Service firefighter had been working to contain the Eicks Fire in Hidalgo County, KRQE-TV reports. The wildfire has burned about 350 acres in the Animas Mountains along the Continental Divide.

He was airlifted in critical condition to a hospital in El Paso, TX, at around  6 p.m., The Grant County Beat reports.

A spokeswoman for the Forestry Division of the state's Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department told The Associated Press that the firefighter is a member of an elite hotshots crew. Details about how the firefighter was injured during the fire were not yet available, she added.

The cause of the wildfire is under investigation.