Tag: 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire

On Monday afternoon a 9 to 12 mph west wind, gusting up to 22 mph, blew the smoke created by the Whitewater-Baldy fire east across New Mexico, headed toward Texas. The satellite photo above was taken at 7:40 p.m. MDT, May 28.

You can compare this with the models from Monday morning which predicted the direction the smoke would take. A higher resolution version of the map below can be found HERE.

UPDATE at 8:32 p.m. MDT, May 28, 2012

We checked with Jerry Perry, a spokesperson for the Incident Management Team at the fire and received some updated information. Mr. Perry said burnout operations occurred in two locations on Monday, near the ghost town of Mogollon to help protect that community, and an area south of Mogollon where the spread of the fire dictated that a burnout needed to be executed in order to keep the fire from moving into unwanted areas.

The fire started on May 16 and the Type 1 Incident Management Team assumed command on May 26. The number of resources working on the fire has increased very slowly.

On Sunday there were five helicopters assigned, none of them Type 1 (the largest), according to Mr. Perry. On Monday there were nine helicopters: three Type 1, two Type 2, and three Type 3. These are small numbers of aircraft for a monster-sized fire. There were no air tankers working the 133,000-acre fire on Monday, because, according to Mr. Perry, “the terrain was not suitable for air tankers”.

The number of personnel assigned to the fire has increased to 1,112 and there are a total of 27 hand crews and 49 engines.

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Usually firefighters can count on “humidity recovery” during the night to slow the spread of wildfires. That higher humidity, usually increasing by several tens of percent, is absorbed by the vegetation and affects how fast a fire burns. Sunday night and early Monday morning, the relative humidity at the Mogollon weather station near the Whitewater-Baldy fire was between three and seven percent — extremely low. As the sun started to come up it began increasing and was at ten percent at 9:13 a.m. MDT; still very low.

The forecast for Monday at Glenwood, NM just west of the Whitewater-Baldy fire calls for the humidity to decrease again to around five percent and the winds will be from the southwest at 7 to 14 mph. The calmer winds will make it possible for helicopters and air tankers to support the firefighters with retardant and water drops. But the very low humidity and moderate winds should still encourage significant fire spread and smoke production.

On Sunday the fire grew by another 10,000 acres, bringing the total to about 133,000 acres. Firefighters took advantage of the calmer winds to do some burning out at the end of the long finger of fire on the northeast side, along Forest Road 141/Reserve Beaverhead Road near the Negrito Airstrip. If they can stop the fire in this area, it will be a step toward keeping the fire out of some more difficult terrain.

Almost all of the fire perimeter showed new growth on Sunday and officially the fire is zero percent contained. On Monday firefighters plan to conduct a burnout operation to help protect the ghost town of Mogollon, and will continue to burnout along Forest Road 141.

Below is something you don’t see produced by every Incident Management Team, a map showing the projected path of smoke from the Whitewater-Baldy Complex for May 28. Areas around Albuquerque, Belen, Socorro, Magdalena and Carrizozo will see smoke through the day, if the projections are correct. A higher resolution version of the map can be found HERE.

The Whitewater-Baldy fire on Saturday, pushed by strong southwest winds gusting up to 37 mph, added another 40,000 acres and ran 12 miles beyond Highway 159 toward the northeast as far as Reserve-Beaverhead Road. The fire has now blackened a total of 122,000 acres, but that may pale in comparison to the ultimate size of this monster fire. The Incident Management Team has  planned a fireline which would triple its size to over 360,000 acres. The Team apparently concluded that this may be the only viable alternative. The fire continually outflanks the shorthanded firefighters, with the rapid rate of spread exceeding their capabilities to construct effective fireline.

Massive burnout operations from indirect firelines miles from the main fire are not unprecedented on major fires. In recent memory they have been used, mostly successfully, on fires on the Los Padres National Forest in southern California, including the Basin Complex, Indians, Iron Alps, and Zaca fires. Bill Molumby who was Incident Commander of a Type 1 Incident Management Team during phases of these fires, successfully directed (along with others) huge burnouts that ultimately stopped the spread of the fires after they had burned for weeks or months. But implementing large, risky plans like these require the best of the best — highly skilled and experienced Incident Commanders, Operations Section Chiefs, Division Supervisors, and firefighters on the ground. They can take weeks or months to complete, and we hope that the necessary personnel, equipment, and firefighters can be found that can safely execute such an ambitious plan. Maybe Bill Molumby, or someone else equally skilled, can be brought out of retirement to assist during the next several weeks or months.

And there is always the chance that the weather will change and mother nature will put out the fire.

So far the relatively small force of 586 personnel, 26 Engines, 2 Dozers, 4 helicopters, and 2 air tankers has been largely ineffective in suppressing the fire. As we noted on Saturday, the number of resources assigned to this 122,000-acre fire is much less than was on the 4,100-acre Banner fire earlier this week which had 73 engines, 2 dozers, 6 air tankers, 7 helicopters, 47 hand crews, and 965 personnel. Thanks to the aggressive initial attack and favorable weather, the Banner fire is expected to be fully contained on Monday. But the degree of difficulty facing the firefighters on the Whitewater-Banner fire is real, with rough country, and powerful winds.

Smoke from the fire is having a significant impact over much of the United States, as you can see from the map below. Some residents of Colorado are detecting a strong odor of smoke and are assuming that there is a nearby fire, but depending on their location, it is most likely coming from the Whitewater-Baldy fire in western New Mexico.

Dense and very visible smoke is drifting into the Albuquerque area, 150 miles northeast of the fire, as seen in this video.

On Saturday the fire spread to within 2.6 miles of Mogollon, which is frequently described as a ghost town, but has structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Whitewater-Baldy fire in southwest New Mexico grew on Thursday to 82,252 acres. The Incident Management Team announced that 12 cabins have burned as well as 13 outbuildings. Below is an update provided by the IMTeam on InciWeb:

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Friday, May 25, 2012 – AM Update: The Whitewater-Baldy Complex grew yesterday to a total of 82,252 acres. Fire behavior was not as extreme as was observed the previous two days. The complex continues to burn in steep, rugged terrain consisting of mixed conifer and continues to be primarily wind and terrain driven. The Whitewater Fire merged with the Baldy Fire on Wednesday, May 23, causing suppression and incident management forces to combine into Whitewater-Baldy Complex.

The fire is currently burning on 3 Ranger Districts, the Glenwood, Reserve and Wilderness Ranger Districts along with an area of private land known as Willow Creek Subdivision. Twelve cabins have been confirmed as lost in this subdivision along with 13 out-buildings. There were NO additional structures lost in the last 24 hours in the Willow Creek Subdivision. Personnel from New Mexico State Forestry and U.S. Forest made all necessary contacts with effected landowners yesterday. Structural protection and damage assessment continue in Willow Creek and structure protection assessments were also initiated in the village of Mogollon.

Due to extreme fire behavior, proximity to private land, and continued high winds forecasted, Tony Sciacca’s Southwest Type 1 Fire Management Team was ordered and arrived in Reserve yesterday. They will assume command of the complex on Saturday morning.

The complex remains at 0% containment as firefighters are unable to directly suppress the fire due to extreme fire behavior and rough terrain. They were, however, able to directly and successfully attack a few spot fires out ahead of the fire on the north end. Crews will continue their hard work today in preparing fire lines across and along the Mineral Creek drainage. Indirect fire line was constructed to the north from Bursum Road to Log Canyon trail connecting to a jeep trail.

Winds are predicted to continue to challenge fire fighters today and tomorrow, shifting from a southwesterly wind to more of a southern wind. Firefighters will be carefully monitoring winds as they continue their efforts. Smoke impacts continue to be substantial in communities to the east and northeast of the complex. A voluntary-evacuation of the town of Mogollon continues to be in effect. Approximately 506 personnel are currently assigned to the fire.

See the latest update on the Whitewater-Baldy fire, dated May 27, 2012.

UPDATE at 5:51 p.m. MDT, May 24, 2012: The Incident Management Team has mapped the now-merged fire at 70,579 acres. They have posted a map HERE.

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Two large wildfires have burned together in southwest New Mexico. Strong winds on Wednesday caused extreme fire behavior and rapid fire spread on the Whitewater and Baldy fires. A weather station 5 miles northwest of the fire recorded west winds of 15 to 21 mph with gusts up to 39 late in the day on Wednesday. Firefighters had to disengage from their assignment at the Willow Creek summer home area because of the extreme conditions and long-range spotting. The fire has come out of the Gila Wilderness and on to the Gila National Forest in the Willow Creek Subdivision and crossed State Road 159 at the Silver Creek Divide and is working its way into Mineral Creek.

HERE is a link to a more detailed map of the Whitewater-Baldy fire than the one shown above.

The weather forecast for Thursday will not provide much relief. It includes a Red Flag Warning with southwest winds of 22-24 mph with gusts up to 36 mph, and a relative humidity in the low teens.

Earlier on Wednesday the sizes of the Whitewater and Baldy fires were reported to be 10,100 and 15,000 acres, respectively. The agencies have not said what the new combined acreage is after the merger of the two fires, but we did some very rough calculations using Google Earth, and it appears to be at least 40,000 to 60,000 acres.

A Type 1 Incident Management Team led by Incident Commander Tony Sciacca has been ordered. The new name of the fire is Whitewater-Baldy Complex.

UPDATED information about the Whitewater-Baldy fire, May 26, 2012.