Firefighters and K-9s from Colorado help battle New Mexico wildfires

Some firefighters and K-9s from Colorado are among the out-of-state emergency crews who are battling a pair of destructive wildfires in southern New Mexico.

A total of 45 of the firefighters and four dogs are from the group Colorado Task Force 1, which has responded to other disasters outside of the Centennial State over the years. That team contains staff from the West Metro Fire Rescue group -- as well as dozens of firefighting groups from across Colorado -- and it's based in the western part of the Denver metro area. A team from Fort Carson is also helping out in New Mexico.

The two wildfires in New Mexico started earlier this month and were named the South Fork Fire and the Salt Fire. Two people were killed and hundreds of homes have burned. The town of Ruidoso was evacuated for part of last week but the evacuation order has since been lifted. Some containment has been reached on both fires but full containment isn't expected until midway through next month.

Over the weekend, Colorado Task Force 1 shared photos on social media of the decontamination process for their K-9s and other K-9s at the scene.

"When searching through debris and burned areas, both canines and people can come into contact with potentially hazardous materials," West Metro Fire Rescue officials wrote in their social media post.

The dogs have been involved in search and rescue operations in and around the burn area.

Firefighters washed the dogs off in kiddie pools.

In addition to getting off any possible harmful chemicals, the dogs were given a chance to cool down after working in hot summer conditions.