The wind, dust, and sand that kicked up all day long across the borderland on Wednesday made it difficult for people to do their jobs.

A small brush fire in the Upper Valley grew out of control because of the heavy winds.

"We were watching TV and we heard sirens coming one after the other after the other," said Robert Vasquez, who lives in the Upper Valley.

Vasquez was concerned the winds would spread to his neighbor's home.

"We got friends that live right here, right next to the where the fire is, so we were worried about them," said Vasquez.

Fire officials tell KFOX one firefighter was injured in the blaze. That firefighter was taken to Las Palmas with a non-life threatening injury to their back.

Construction workers off of Artcraft had to battle wind, dust, and sand just to get through their workday.

On the other side of town at the Mission Del Paso Community College campus, just walking to class was a difficult task.

"It was kind of hard because of the wind and the sand and you know, it was kind of hard coming to school," said Maria Sianec, who lives in East El Paso.

Sianec said class attendance was down due to the windy weather.

"Yes it was less, it was less, a lot of them didn't show up," said Sianec.

But it was drivers that bore the brunt of Wednesday's weather. Visibility on I-10 in far East El Paso was very limited as dust and sand kicked up and over the road.

In the Northeast, driving wasn't much better either.

"It was terrible. I was going all over the road, the wind pockets were just shaking the car in and out," said Viola Lewis, driving from Chaparral, N.M.

The high winds in New Mexico meant bad business for one type of truck.

"Because the winds are in excess of 25 mph, we've shut down the highway for all oversized high-profile, light-weight vehicles," said Sgt. Fritz Wagoner with the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

Safety is the top priority.

"They are most affected by the wind, and we just wanted to keep high, wide vehicles, lightweight vehicles off the highway," said Wagoner.

The high wind warning was in effect until 5 a.m. Thursday.

2/28/07 Complete Coverage: Videos, slideshows and tips on how to deal with severe weather