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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Trigo Fire Efforts Suffer A Setback

By Laura Nesbitt /
Mountain View Telegraph
      Just when it looked like the Trigo Fire was under control, high winds caused the fire to jump containment lines.
       As of Tuesday evening, the fire was 95 percent contained and burned a total of 4,832 acres, according to an incident management team press release.
       The cost to date is more than $5.5 million and the cause remains under investigation, the release stated.
       But on Wednesday afternoon a gust of wind picked up hot embers about a half mile from the perimeter of the fire, said Peter D'Aquanni, fire information officer.
       Officials had no fix on the size or the speed of the fire late Wednesday “because there is so much smoke,” D'Aquanni said.
       There were 180 firefighters still stationed on the fire, including two Hot Shot crews and four Type 2 hand crews. Each crew has 20 fire personnel and the others are “assorted firefighting personnel,” D'Aquanni said.
       The area is under a red flag warning, meaning high winds, until 11 tonight. Then the winds are expected to die down, with wind Friday not expected to be as strong, D'Aquanni said.
       The flare-up comes on the heels of an informational meeting on Saturday at the Torreon Community Center. About 40 people asked questions to various agencies fighting the Trigo Fire.
       Several times during the meeting the audience applauded firefighting efforts to control the blaze and warn residents.
       “We were prepared to evacuate. (This fire) did not display itself the same way that the Ojo Peak Fire did,” said Susannah Gavin-Laing who lives off of N.M. 55 about a half mile from Manzano, trying to explain the difference between the Ojo Peak Fire last November that burned more than 7,000 acres and the Trigo Fire.
       “When it came over the crest it was pretty bad, and we saw flames” on Sunday night, but from her point of view in Manzano, the Ojo Peak Fire was more aggressive, Gavin-Laing said.
       Meanwhile, the Cibola National Forest, which includes the Mountainair and Sandia Ranger Districts, is not allowing fires, vehicles cannot travel off of forest roads and firewood cutting is also restricted, according to a news release sent out April 24.
       Nine weekend or summer homes, 10 outbuildings and two RV camper trailers burned in the fire, said Deanna Younger, lead information officer for the New Mexico Incident Management Team.
       The soil and water district has grant money available for people interested in thinning the areas around their property. Call 847-2243 or 847-2941 for more information.
       If someone wants to make a claim to the forest service, they need to file a tort claim claiming that the government was at fault, said Karen Lessard, district ranger, Cibola National Forest Mountainair Ranger District. Call (877) 372-7248 for more information.
   

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