Ute Park Fire active overnight near the community of Ute Park

3-d map ute park wildfire fire

Above: 3-D map of the Ute Park Fire, looking west. The red line on the map shows the perimeter at 10:30 p.m. June 2, 2018.

Increased fire activity near the community of Ute Park prompted the Colfax Emergency Manager and Colfax Sheriff’s Office to issue a mandatory evacuation for the community Saturday afternoon. Winds from the southeast caused the fire to grow to the northwest south of the town. Overnight it kept spreading to the west and a satellite overflight at 1:40 a.m. detected heat on the north side of Highway 64 west of the community. Firefighters are conducting point protection around structures and planned a burnout operation Saturday night to help protect the community which is now encircled by a dozer line.

Saturday’s burning operations to help protect the Cimarron area were successful on the fire’s eastern and southern flanks.

The fire has burned 31,910 acres in northeast New Mexico between Eagles Nest and Cimarron 26 air miles northeast of Taos.

map ute park wildfire fire
The red line on the map shows the perimeter of the Ute Park Fire at 10:30 p.m. MDT June 2, 2018. The yellow line was the perimeter the previous night. The red dots on the northwest side indicate heat detected by a satellite at 1:40 a.m. MDT June 3.

Ute Park Fire grows to 27,000 acres

The Ute Park Fire in Northeast New Mexico expanded to over 27,000 acres on Friday according to a mapping flight at 11 p.m. Friday night. It had the potential to become much larger but it may have been slowed when it spread into the scar from the 2002 Ponil Complex  of Fires. In addition, the wind speed recorded at Cimarron on Friday, 9 mph gusting at 22 to 28 out of the southwest, was less than the prediction of sustained 25 mph southwest winds gusting between 31 and 36.

Map of the Ute Park Fire
Map of the Ute Park Fire at 11 p.m. MDT June 1, 2018.

After sundown Friday the wind decreased to 3 mph with a variable direction, which allowed the fire to spread on the southwest side, probably adding one or two thousand acres to the 27,000 mapped at 11 p.m. But firefighters were able to keep the fire out of Cimarron.

Saturday’s weather forecast for Cimarron is for 84 degrees, relative humidity in the mid-teens, and 12 mph winds out of the northeast in the morning switching to the southeast in the afternoon. The variable wind direction could be problematic for firefighters.

Video of driving through the Ute Park Fire

Driving through Ute Park Fire New Mexico

Above: screenshot from the video below.

Apparently these people survived driving through the Ute Park Fire in Northeast New Mexico. As a wildland firefighter for decades, I have never driven through that much fire for that length of time. One of the many disastrous things that can happen is that the fire consumes so much oxygen that there is not enough left to support burning the gasoline in the vehicle’s engine — it can quit and the vehicle will stall, probably in the most intense part of the fire.

All of our articles about the Ute Park Fire can be found HERE.

Satellite photo, smoke from New Mexico wildfires

satellite photo three fires new mexico colorado

(Updated at 4:56 p.m. MDT June 1, 2018)

The satellite photo above was taken at 4:32 p.m. MDT June 1 showing smoke from three fires in New Mexico and Colorado.

Below is a photo of the same general area taken four hours earlier. The fires are being pushed by strong winds, resulting in a rapid rate of spread.

Articles on Wildfire Today about the Ute Park Fire.

(Originally published at 1:02 p.m. MDT June 1, 2018)

This satellite photo shows smoke from three fires at 12:32 p.m. MDT June 1, 2018. Two of the fires are in New Mexico, the Ute Park Fire and the Buzzard Fire. Both are being spread rapidly by strong winds which makes the smoke plume long and narrow.

Satellite photo smoke fires New Mexico Colorado
Satellite photo, smoke from fires in New Mexico and Colorado at 12:32 p.m. MDT June 1, 2018.

In southwest Colorado there appears to be a new fire, possibly north of Durango. I don’t believe it is the Horse Park Fire. Update at 1:34 p.m. MDT June 1, 2018. We just confirmed the smoke in Southwest Colorado is from a new fire about 12 miles north of Durango, the 416 Fire.  

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