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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Fuels Feed Wildfires Across Area

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
      Wildfires are flaring up in parts of the Manzano Mountains and in Torrance County, causing large plumes of smoke to billow into the air that can be seen for miles.
    The Big Spring Fire was caused by a lightning strike and reported by the Capilla Peak Lookout about 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
    By 4 that afternoon, the fire forced the evacuation of 150 children and some adults at the Inlow Baptist Youth Camp and Conference Center, along with residents of Fourth of July Loop near N.M. 55. Fire officials called for an evacuation of Tajique late Wednesday.
    There were no reported injuries and no structures reported to have burned.
    By Wednesday afternoon, officials were urging residents of the Sherwood Forest subdivision and surrounding neighborhoods to evacuate.
    The fire had more than doubled in size since it began and officials estimated the fire to be up to 1,000 acres in size late Wednesday. The fire is located about five miles west of Tajique.
    “The main thing is the amount of trees per acre. It's a huge problem. The winds are not driving this thing. It's the fuel that it's got in front of it,” said Mountainair District Fire Information Officer Arlene Perea.
    There are hundreds of trees per acre in that area as compared to a “suitable forest habitat” which includes about 60 trees per acre, Perea said.
    As of Wednesday afternoon the fire was managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team. A Type 1 Team was briefed in Albuquerque at 2 p.m. on Wednesday to take over, Perea said.
    Weather forecasts of isolated showers and thunderstorms, and winds of 10 to 15 mph are not encouraging to officials.
    “The thunderstorms are probably bringing wind and dry lightning,” Perea said. What would be favorable would be no wind and cooler temperatures, she said.
    There were about 100 firefighters fighting the fire by Wednesday afternoon, Perea said.
    There were two other fires which began on Tuesday. One within the Trigo Fire perimeter which was not a concern to officials because the area has already burned, and the Fourth of July Fire that was completely contained by 5 p.m., Perea said.
    The Bar S Fire started with a lightning strike on Sunday at about 6:30 p.m. off of N.M. 3 near mile marker 33 in Torrance County, said Jennifer Cordova, 911 dispatch center day-shift supervisor.
    There were just “hot spots” left of the fire on Wednesday afternoon and 10 fire crew were still at the scene, Cordova said.
    There were no reported injuries or structures damaged.
    Residents are just recovering from two other human-caused fires in the Manzano Mountains.
    The Trigo Fire that began on April 15 more than doubled in size five days after it began. On April 30 a gust of wind carried an ember and the fire again doubled in size. The fire burned 59 homes and charred 13,709 acres.
    The Ojo Peak Fire grew from about 200 acres on Nov. 20 to an estimated 7,500 acres by the following afternoon.
    Residents in affected areas should evacuate to the Estancia Community Center.
   

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