Strong wind causes Coyote Fire to awaken

(UPDATED at 8:26 a.m. MDT May 25, 2016)

Coyote Fire map 3-D
Map, in 3-D, showing the perimeter of the Coyote Fire at 10 p.m. May 24 in red, and in yellow, the perimeter from May 16.

Pushed by strong winds over the last couple of days the Coyote Fire in Guadalupe Mountains National Park has grown by approximately 1,770 acres to about 13,590 acres. The fire started May 7 in the west Texas park and spread across the border into New Mexico.

After being downgraded from a Type 2 fire to a Type 3, it was escalated back to a Type 2 after the fire began spreading again on May 22. Richard Nieto’s Type 2 incident management team arrived May 24.

The area is under a Red Flag Warning on Wednesday.

The National Park Service has not provided any information on InciWeb about the fire since 5 p.m. on May 23.

Coyote Fire map
Map showing the perimeter of the Coyote Fire at 10 p.m. May 24 in red, and in yellow, the perimeter from May 16.

KRWG has an article about a fire crew comprised of veterans being assigned to the fire. Below is an excerpt:

New Mexico State Forestry is sending two crews from the Returning Heroes Wildland Firefighters program to aid wildfire suppression efforts at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas.  One crew arrived at the park today and a second is pre-positioned in Ruidoso in Lincoln County.

[…]

The Returning Heroes Wildland Firefighter Program was created to provide veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces with training and work opportunities to fight wildland fires. Previously a pilot program, Returning Heroes was made permanent and signed into legislation by Governor Susana Martinez in 2014.

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(UPDATED at 12:52 p.m. MDT May 24, 2016)

While we are waiting for an update from the National Park Service about the Coyote Fire in New Mexico and Texas, we’ll post this graphic showing the wind gusts out of the southwest and west at weather stations in and near in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

Coyote Fire wind gusts
Coyote Fire wind gusts at 12:48 p.m. May 24, 2016.

The updated forecast for the fire area for Tuesday is for southwest winds of 22 gusting to 32, 87 degrees, and a relative humidity of 7 percent. Wednesday will be about the same, except the sustained wind speed will be 32 mph with gusts as high as 47 mph. Strong winds are in the forecast through Saturday.

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(UPDATED at 5:25 p.m. MDT, May 23, 2016)

map coyote fire
The yellow, red, and brown dots represent heat detected by a satellite on the Coyote FIre in the 24 hours ending at 2:41 p.m CET May 23, 2016, 2016. Click to see larger version.

Pushed by very strong winds, the Coyote Fire in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in west Texas flared up again, prompting the park to re-escalate the management structure back to a higher qualified Type 2 incident management team. Originally there was an initial attack organization running the fire, then a Type 3 team, then Type 2, then Type 3, and now it is going back to a Type 2 team. Transition periods from one team to another can be dangerous.

Strong winds on Sunday “pushed fire further past Bush Mountain ridge toward Guadalupe Peak” according to a news release by the park. We believe this area is on the southwest side of the fire and on the map is above the word “Park” in “Guadalupe Mtns. National Park”.

The weather forecast predicts very strong afternoon winds to continue through Thursday. Sustained winds during the daylight hours will be in the 25 to 35 mph range with gusts from 35 to 50 mph. The minimum relative humidity will be from 6 to 10 percent, and no rain is expected the rest of this week.

Only 10 percent of the fire is being fully suppressed. The other 90 percent is a combination of Confine, Monitor, and Point Protection strategies. The fire has been burning for 17 days. The longer a fire is allowed to spread without suppression, the greater the chance of encountering a wind event that could change the complexion of the incident.

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(UPDATED at 5:30 p.m. MDT May 16, 2016)

Coyote Fire map May 16, 2016
The National Park Service released this fire progression map on May 16.

On May 16 the National Park Service said they are “actively monitoring” the Coyote fire, which has burned 11,820 acres in western Texas and southeast New Mexico.

Yesterday: There was limited new growth on the fire yesterday. However, fire managers continued to actively monitor the fire as some heat remained in interior pockets of unburned forest debris and brush.

Today: Red flag weather conditions, including strong winds and low humidities, are predicted to develop over the fire area today. Crews will continue to monitor the fire for any wind driven flare-ups. Some interior smoldering is likely to continue, producing light, visible smoke.

“Although there was limited growth yesterday, we will remain vigilant,” said Eric Brunnemann, Superintendent of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. “This is still an active fire area and may remain so for some time.”


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(UPDATED at 12:25 p.m. MDT, May 12, 2016)

Map Coyote Fire
Map of the Coyote Fire, 10 p.m. MDT May 11, 2016. Click to see larger version.

When I read a news release issued Wednesday morning by the incident management team running the Coyote Fire in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, the document gave the distinct impression that it is a limited suppression fire, to allow fire to do its thing in the Park:

…The fire is expected to continue very active natural and healthy spread to the south and east within the borders of the Park. As a 100 percent fire adapted landscape, fire is an essential tool to maintain the ecosystem’s stability and diversity. Fire managers will continue to assess the potential for natural growth while fully protecting private lands and historic cabins and camps within the Park.

However at the Southwest Coordination Center and in the fire’s Incident Status Summary (ICS-209) it is described as a “full suppression” fire. Holly Krake, spokesperson for the fire, said initially they were employing a full suppression strategy, then transitioned to a mixed strategy, full and limited suppression. When we talked with her she was in a planning meeting where this issue was being discussed, and it could change, she said.

Initially it was was full suppression with the fire moving to the north into state and private lands along the New Mexico [state] line, so full suppression was implemented there. But largely due to firefighter safety issues in rugged country once it started moving to the south and the east we did not have the suppression option. So we’re currently assessing that with our agency administrator…

(UPDATE at 12:47 p.m. MDT, May 1, 2016: Ms. Krake told us that during the planning meeting the incident management team and the agency administrator made the decision that they will employ “100 percent full suppression”. However in some areas of very rugged country they will have have to back off for firefighter safety and use indirect methods some distance from the fire’s edge.)

Coyote Fire May 12, 2016
Smoke rises from the Coyote Fire near Bush Mountain as the fire burns at primarily low intensities through grass and brush on May 12, 2016. Photo by Brent Wachter.
Coyote Fire May 12, 2016
Coyote Fire May 12, 2016. Photo by Brent Wachter.

The fire has crossed over the state line from Texas into New Mexico and was listed at 9,755 acres as of the end of the day on Wednesday. The map above shows most of the recent activity was on the east side.

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(UPDATED at 6:44 a.m. MDT May 11, 2016)

Map Coyote FIre
Map Coyote FIre 3:52 a.m. MDT May 11, 2016. Click to see larger version.

The map above is updated, showing heat detected on the Coyote Fire as late as 3:52 a.m. MDT, May 11, 2016. The red dots are the most current. Late on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning it exhibited most of its heat on the south and southeast sides.

The fire is burning in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in west Texas and crossed over the border into New Mexico in recent days.

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Map Coyote FIre May 10, 2016
The yellow and brown dots represent heat detected by a satellite on the Coyote FIre previous to May 10, 2016. The brown dots are the most recent. Click to see larger version.

Since the lightning-ignited Coyote Fire was discovered May 7 in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in west Texas it has burned 8,205 acres. About 243 of those acres are in Texas (the green/white east-west line on the map above).

The transition from a Type 3 incident management team to Sinclair’s Type 2 team will occur Tuesday evening.  There are 165 personnel assigned, including 6 Type 1 Interagency Hotshot Crews, 5 Type 6 Engines, and 2 Fuels Tenders, 1 Type 3 Helicopter, and miscellaneous overhead.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

4 thoughts on “Strong wind causes Coyote Fire to awaken”

  1. One more point if the NPS decided to use this wildfire as a controlled burn fire in order to get rid of fuel that has piled up over the years then this too is a mistake. It is just the wrong time of the year to try and do a controlled burn in the Guadalupe Mts. From what I have read that seems to have been the decision. Controlled burns in the Guadalupe Mts should never be done from March thru May and to use a lightning started wildfire to do the controlled burns for the NPS at this time of year is just a recipe for disaster. Even in the best of circumstances controlled burns in the Guadalupe Mts can be risky due to its unpredictable winds.

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  2. The NPS service and the fire management teams should of took full advantage of the rain that occurred over a week ago, but instead of going on the offensive with the help of the rain the NS and fire management chose to back off and now we are seeing the result of that decision. A wasted opportunity that the rain gave them last week. The Bowl is probably the most sensitive part of the park and a large, powerful fire, could easily do irreparable damage to it. This part of the park is already under strain due to climate change. With the knowledge that the bowl region of the park was in the pathway of the fire combined with the extremely windy weather the park is known for the NPS should not of pulled back. Now I see there has not been an update on Inciweb for 2-days. I find this odd since updates have been given on a daily basis since the start of the fire.

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  3. I cannot believe this. One would think the SW Coordination Center would know this area and the high winds it has during April through May and that by lowering the amount of men on the ground was a bad idea and not attacking the fire and letting it just burn itself out was destined to go wrong due to the high winds and lack of rain in the Guadalupe Mts this time of year. I know the area very well the type of weather the area can produce and the teams never should of been lowered. Plus it should of been a full suppression fire due to the winds that this area can produce which can quickly make the fire much worse, which is what is happening now. What a blunder.

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    1. Joe, just an FYI. The Southwest Coordination Center supplies what the host agency requests, so having a type 2 team or a type 3 team, or whatever other organization—it is determined by the host agency. The release of the original team was done by the host agency, not the SWCC. The ordering of a team was done by the host agency–the SWCC just fills the orders….

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