Wallow fire passes the half million acres mark

Update at 7:48 p.m. MT, June 18, 2011:

The Wallow and a new fire, Pacheco Canyon, 6 miles Northeast of Tesuque, New Mexico, (north of Santa Fe) are both putting up a great deal of smoke.

Sat photo Wallow and Pacheco fires 1925 6-18-2011 — Satellite photo of Wallow and Pacheco fires, 7:25 p.m. MT, 6-18-2011. NOAA

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Update at 5:36 p.m. MT, June 18, 2011:

The winds have indeed caused a problem on the Wallow fire. A slopover across Hwy. 180 is up and running. Area Command Tweeted this information within the last hour:

The wind at the Luna, NM weather station for the last couple of hours recorded winds out of the southwest or west-southwest at 17-18, gusting up to 37-38 mph. The direct effect of the wind on the air tankers might be enough to make flying 150 above rugged terrain unsafe for the flight crews. The wind would also make it very difficult for the retardant to land on the intended target, blowing horizontally for hundreds of feet before it hits the ground.

The map below shows the area where the fire most likely crossed the fireline and caused the evacuation of Luna. The red squares represent heat detected by satellites at 2:00 p.m. MT on Saturday. Click the image to see a larger version.

Map of east side Wallow fire data 1400 6-18-2011 — Map of east side of the Wallow fire, heat data 2:00 p.m. MT, June 18, 2011. MODIS/Google Earth

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Firefighter uses a pistol-like firing device to ignite a burnout on June 12, 2011

The massive, record-breaking Wallow fire in eastern Arizona yesterday reached the dubious distinction of burning over a half-million acres — 500,409 to be exact. Officially, containment is at 38%, a figure not to be confused with the amount of fireline that is being held, which is much higher, at least for now.

Firefighters are worried about the Red Flag warnings that started Friday and go through Sunday, which Wildfire Today covered yesterday. The Luna, NM weather station recorded strong winds on Friday, 17 mph gusting up to 34 at about 5:00 p.m. The firefighters made it through that OK, but the updated forecast for the winds at Luna on Saturday are 28 mph gusting up to 39, and for Sunday, 33 gusting up to 47. On Monday they die down to the 16 mph range.

Refilling drip torches — Mormon Lake Hotshots refilling drip torches during a night burn operation on the 275 Road near Alpine, AZ, June 12, 2011.

We have not posted any photos of the Wallow fire for a while, so today we will catch up. Except for the last one, they were all taken on the Wallow fire by Kari Greer for the U. S. Forest Service, who has been taking some great photographs of the fire. More photos are at Flickr. More photos are below.