Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

A federal search warrant application filed last week revealed that the FBI believes two people are responsible for igniting the Salt Fire that began June 17 and burned more than 7,000 acres in southeastern New Mexico.

According to the July 11 document signed by an FBI agent, the suspects are a man and woman. The pair, who are boyfriend and girlfriend, are accused of starting five other “suspicious” wildfires occurring on the Mescalero Apache Reservation since early May.

Source New Mexico is not identifying either person because they have not been charged with a crime. The man did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, though he did post on Facebook last month denying any involvement in the fires. ...

New Mexico’s senior senator is calling on President Joe Biden to “pass the torch” to give Democrats a better chance of defeating former President Donald Trump in November.

Heinrich is the third Democratic United States senator to publicly call on Biden to step down, following Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Peter Welch of Vermont. A handful of House Democrats are also beseeching Biden to get out of the race, including four more on Friday.

Heinrich, in his statement Friday morning his office provided to Source New Mexico, praised Biden for his successes leading the country and long career in public service. ...

The FBI is looking into a threatening letter received Wednesday at the Santa Fe office of the Conservation Voters of New Mexico, according to the organization and an FBI spokesperson.

The letter contained a chemical substance, which CVNM said in a statement “contained ingredients of a potent toxin used in terrorist attacks” but that the FBI determined was inert.

Reached Friday, CVNM spokesperson Michael Jensen referred any additional questions about the substance to the bureau. FBI spokesperson Frank Fisher told Source New Mexico on Friday that investigators are looking into the matter and that the substance was deemed not harmful. ...

Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Juan Rios confirmed with Source New Mexico in a phone call after the news conference Wednesday that investigators suspect it was a real metal bullet that killed Halyna Hutchins, 42, last week on the set of “Rust."

Sheriff Adan Mendoza said there was “complacency" on the set of the New Mexico-filmed movie, and practices need to be improved in the film industry to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Hutchins, 42, was shot southwest of Santa Fe last week when star Alec Baldwin fired a revolver on set during rehearsal for a scene in the Western based in 1880s Kansas. Director Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder but survived. ...