Firefighters make progress on Bluewater and Dienier Canyon Fires in New Mexico

Operations Section Chief Rocky Gilbert wildfire briefing

Above: Operations Section Chief Rocky Gilbert. Screenshot from Incident Management Team video.

On Monday firefighters were able to hold some of the perimeter on two fires in western New Mexico, the Bluewater and Diener Canyon Fires, which have burned 2,532 and 6,682 acres respectively.

Soon after it started April 12 there were reports that the Diener Canyon Fire started from an escaped prescribed fire on the Cibola National Forest. Then on April 15 the Forest Service issued a statement saying “the exact cause of the Diener Canyon Fire is currently being investigated.” Today, April 16, the Forest Service is reporting that “fire investigators have determined that multiple spot fires from the Redondo Prescribed Burn started the Diener Canyon Fire”.

The Diener Canyon Fire is burning on Mount Sedgwick within an old fire scar from 2004. The Bluewater fire is approximately 4 miles north of the Diener Canyon Fire on Salitre Mesa.

Sunday firefighters continued the burnout operation on the east flank of the Diener Canyon Fire, along Forest Road (FR) 425. The burnout resulted in a wide containment line, as six to ten inch flames slowly consumed light to moderate forest vegetation. This line is designed to prevent any fire from moving to the east toward Bluewater Village and La Jara subdivision.

Fire crews completed confinement lines on the northwest corner of the Bluewater Fire, stopping movement of fire toward Bluewater Acres, but fire remained active in windrows of uprooted juniper trees on the north side of the fire. A heavy helicopter dropped water on burning vegetation, assisting firefighters as they suppressed the flames.

Monday crews planned to continue the burnout along FR 425 east of the Diener Canyon Fire, bringing the containment line south to tie in to FR 480. Firefighters will patrol and mop up along FR 178, and may use aerial ignition to clean up unburned areas if necessary, weather permitting. Structure Protection crews will continue assessing prevention needs. Fire is still active on the northeast corner, and helicopters will be used to keep the fire in check, weather permitting.

Below is a video update for both fires by Operations Section Chief Rocky Gilbert. It was posted on Monday, April 16.

New Mexico firefighter dies after suffering burn injuries

A volunteer firefighter from the eastern New Mexico town of Nara Vista died Thursday after suffering severe burns on a large wildfire in Quay County (map). A second firefighter was injured but has been released from the hospital.

Below is an excerpt from an article at the Eastern New Mexico News:

John Cammack, 74, of Nara Visa, was severely burned after falling from a fire engine during a “burn over” Wednesday night, said Nara Visa Fire Chief Gary Girard.

Girard said a second firefighter, Kyle Perez, was also injured during the incident.

He said the firefighters were attempting to refill a fire engine with a water tanker when the winds shifted abruptly.

“We were no longer fighting the fire, we were running from the fire,” Girard said.

Girard said the flames were as high as the fire engine as they fled the area. He said Cammack was transported to Lubbock for treatment and Perez was admitted to a hospital in Amarillo.

Perez’ condition was not released, but a family member posted on social media that he’d been released from the hospital.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Willard.
Typos or errors, report them HERE.

Cajete Fire west of Los Alamos doubles in size

map Cajete Fire arizona Los Alamos

Above: A 3-D map of the Cajete Fire in northern New Mexico. The red line was the perimeter at 10 p.m. MDT June 16, 2017. The white line was from about 20 hours earlier. 

(UPDATED at 11:54 a.m. MDT June 17, 2017)

The Cajete Fire in the Santa Fe National Forest doubled in size on Friday, increasing to 1,325 acres. The fire has burned on both sides of Highway 4 in the Santa Fe National Forest 7 miles northeast of Jemez Springs and 12 miles west of Los Alamos in northern New Mexico.

The fire is spreading mostly through timber. Yesterday the southeast portion moved into the footprint of the Las Conchas Fire that burned 63 structures and 156,000 acres in 2011. It is likely that in the six-year old fire scar there will be less resistance to control.

Officials believe the fire started approximately one mile northeast of Vallecitos de los Indios but have not yet released a cause. The burned area runs along the East Fork of the Jemez River.

Approximately 70 structures are threatened, many of which have been evacuated, including a lookout tower.

On Friday the fire ran up a slope south of Highway 4, from 8,300 feet above sea level to about 9,300 feet.

On Friday the firefighting resources assigned included about 150 personnel, multiple engines, one bulldozer, four helicopters (including a rappel ship), five air tankers, and two air attack platforms.

As this was written at 11:50 a.m. MDT on June 17, a C-130Q air tanker had just departed the fire after presumably dropping a load of fire retardant. See the map below.

C-130Q air tanker Cajete Fire
A C-130Q air tanker departs the Cajete Fire at 11:50 a.m. MDT June 17, 2017.

Mark von Tillow’s Type 1 Incident Management Team from California assumed command at 7 a.m. on Saturday, taking over from a Type 3 Team. The official strategy of the team is to fully suppress the fire.

Map Bonita and Cajete Fires
Map showing the location of the Bonita and Cajete Fires north of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Five fires are burning in the Gila National Forest

wildfires Gila national forest new mexico

Above: A satellite detected smoke from 5 fires in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico on June 14, 2017. The red dots on the map represent heat. The acreages shown were reported within the last 48 hours.

Five wildfires burning in the Gila National Forest in southwest New Mexico are all being managed using a strategy of less than full suppression.

For example, the Round Fire is listed like this:

  • Confine (25%)
  • Full Suppression (25%)
  • Monitor (25%)
  • Point Zone Protection (25%)

There are a total of eight large wildfires in New Mexico that are uncontained and are being managed with a less than full suppression strategy. Arizona has 12 large uncontained fires, and 6 are being fully suppressed.

The Southwest Geographic area is in Preparedness Level 4 (5 is the highest possible). The National PL is 2.

round fire new mexico
Round Fire – view from Lookout Mountain. Posted on InciWeb June 13, 2017.

Rainfall in western states slows wildfire season in many areas

Rainfall last 2 weeks washington oregon
Rainfall last 2 weeks, Washington and Oregon

Rainfall over the last two weeks has slowed or in some cases, ended the wildfire season in some areas.

On October 19 we ran the numbers for the accumulated precipitation for the last 14 days in the western states. These maps show amounts that exceeded 0.05 inches at some of the Interagency Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS).

Washington, Oregon, and northern California have received a good soaking and I would imagine that local fire officials may be declaring an end to the fire season. Of course this is not unusual for these areas this time of the year, and some locations had already seen their season end. But what IS unusual, is the high amount of moisture that occurred in just two weeks.

You can click on the images to see larger versions.

Rainfall last 2 weeks, northern California
Rainfall last 2 weeks, northern California
Rainfall last 2 weeks central California
Rainfall last 2 weeks, central California

Continue to see maps for the other western states.
Continue reading