Tag: Three Rivers Fire

Updated at 11:30 a.m. MDT April 29, 2021

Precipitation continues  to fall on the Three Rivers Fire 8 miles northwest of Ruidoso, New Mexico. The “Smoky Bear” weather station near the city recorded more than half an inch since 1 a.m. Thursday.

Information from the incident management team (IMT) says firefighters are constructing direct fireline to further secure the blaze. As of Wednesday evening the team was still calling it 12,000 acres, but that number could change significantly when they are able to map the fire from the air without interference from clouds.

The IMT reported that evacuations have been lifted in the following areas: Nogal Canyon Area (up to the Nogal Peak Trailhead), Bonito Canyon Area up to the Bonito Lake Dam, Church Mountain, Ranchman’s Camp, Loma Grande, Cora Dutton, Magado, Ski Apache up to the Eagle Lakes turn, and Villa Madonna.

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More rain and snow Wednesday morning has at least temporarily slowed the spread of the Three Rivers Fire eight miles northwest of Ruidoso, New Mexico. An additional six-tenths of an inch of precipitation is in the forecast for the fire area through Thursday, which could deposit more than five inches of snow in the higher elevations. The greatest chance of precipitation will be Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The live camera at Ruidoso showed wet streets in the city at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Clouds for the last two days have prevented satellites and fixed wing aircraft from mapping the fire to determine exactly where it has burned. Fire officials for the last 24 hours have been using the 12,000-acre figure as their estimate for the size, before the rain and snow paused the spread. They hope to refine that number Wednesday afternoon and expect it to decrease after they can actually see the fire from the air and more accurately map unburned areas.

The Type 1 Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The fire has burned into the Little Bear Fire scar from 2012, where there is less vegetation to fuel the blaze.

Updated at 7:16 p.m. MDT April 26, 2021

The 6,100-acre Three Rivers Fire 10 miles northwest of Ruidoso, New Mexico has spread into the footprint of the Little Bear Fire of 2012. Residents of the area will remember that fire because it stirred up a great deal of controversy.

(To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Three Rivers Fire, including the most current, click here.)

Much of the criticism of the Little Bear fire was focused on what appeared from a distance to be less than aggressive suppression tactics, even though it was a suppression fire. Two firefighters worked the fire on the first day, June 4, 2012, and from day two through day five, while the fire was only four acres, a hotshot crew was assigned, but they had very, very little aerial firefighting support; limited use of one helicopter and no air tankers. On the fifth day the wind increased, a tree in the interior of the fire torched, and spot fires took off. The fire grew from 4 acres to 44,000 acres and destroyed 254 structures.

In June, 2012, Representative Steve Pearce was extremely critical of the way the U.S. Forest Service was managing the fire and the 297,000-acre Whitewater Baldy Complex in New Mexico, mentioning the name of Tom Tidwell, Chief of the Forest Service, many times during a 22-minute speech on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Rep. Pearce had five reports written about the two fires

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Updated at 6:49 p.m. MDT April 26, 2021

At about 5 p.m. Monday the Lincoln National Forest lengthened the list of locations under evacuation notices for the Three Rivers Fire northwest of Ruidoso, New Mexico:

• Nogal Canyon Area
• Bonito Canyon Area
• Tanbark
• Church
• Ranchman’s Camp
• Loma Grande
• Cora Dutton
• Magado
• Ski Apache

Evacuation Centers
• Nazarean Church Camp, 200 Bonito Park Rd. Alto, NM 88316
• Capitan Senior Center at 412 Tiger Drive Capitan, NM 88316
• Ruidoso Downs Senior Center at 393 Highway 70 West Rd. Ruidoso Downs, NM 88346.

The latest size estimate is 6,100 acres. The fire is spreading very rapidly.

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Within hours of the Three Rivers Fire detection on the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico, evacuations were ordered. The fire is about 10 miles northwest of Ruidoso. It is one-half mile above Three Rivers Campground near the White Mountains on the Smokey Bear Ranger District between Tularosa and Carrizozo.

Evacuation notices are in effect according to the U.S. Forest Service for Nogal Canyon, Bonito Canyon, and the Ski Apache area.

At about 11 a.m. officials estimated the size at 30 acres, but judging from the live video from Ruidoso at 2:40 p.m. it appears to be growing rapidly. The latest report puts it at approximately 4,000 acres.

The fire is being pushed by a strong wind gusting out of the southwest at up to 38 mph. That wind speed was recorded at a weather station in Ruidoso which at 2:35 p.m. April 26 showed 66 degrees and 7 percent relative humidity. The forecast is for wind gusts up to 55 mph in the afternoon. These conditions will make it very difficult to impossible for firefighters to get out in front and stop the forward progress of the fire —  or for retardant-dropping aircraft to be effective.

A Type 1 Incident Management Team has been ordered. Other resources ordered or onsite as of 2:10 p.m. MDT included 2 single-engine airtankers, 1 hotshot crew, 2 other hand crews, and 5 engines.