| SUBSCRIBE | | Why we charge |
|
|
|
Front Page
news
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Fire Forces More Evacuations in N.M.
Associated Press
TAJIQUE — A fire burning in thick trees in the Manzano Mountains that already forced the evacuation of a summer church camp led officials Wednesday to urge people to leave a mountain subdivision where some four dozen homes burned in a wildfire last month.
Extremely erratic behavior by the Big Spring Fire led U.S. Forest Service officials to urge people to evacuate the Sherwood Forest subdivision and surrounding neighborhoods. New Mexico doesn't have mandatory evacuations, so everything is voluntary, forest officials said.
The Big Spring Fire, listed at 300 acres Wednesday morning, more than doubled in size in two hours, said Arlene Perea, a Forest Service spokeswoman. Officials estimated Wednesday afternoon that the blaze had charred between 700 and 1,000 acres.
"The winds haven't been a major factor. It's just super dry and there's just a lot of fuel in there,'' Perea said.
The blaze prompted Gov. Bill Richardson to declare a disaster in Torrance County on Wednesday because of the danger posed by the flames. The declaration makes emergency state funding available for firefighting efforts and emergency public services.
Forest officials said the fire is less than 2 1/2 miles from the subdivision.
The Sherwood Forest area was evacuated last month when the human-caused Trigo Fire charred more than 21 square miles and destroyed 59 homes, about 47 of them in the subdivision. Hundreds of residents from Tajique, Torreon and the surrounding area fled their homes from that fire.
Evacuees from the Big Spring Fire were urged to a Red Cross Center in the Estancia Community Center.
About 150 campers and staff at the Inlow Baptist Youth Camp evacuated Tuesday and the camp is now empty, Perea said.
Air tankers and helicopters dropped fire retardant and water on the flames Wednesday as ground crews tried to build lines on the northern end of the blaze. Perea said more firefighters, engines and dozers were on their way.
Forest Road 55, known as Fourth of July Canyon Road, was shut down by the fire. Officials asked residents on private land along the road to leave Tuesday, but no one showed up at an American Red Cross shelter at the Estancia Community Center, Perea said.
A lightning storm Monday night sparked the blaze in ponderosa pine and pinon-juniper five miles west of Tajique.
Meanwhile, hot shot crews have been released from another blaze that has burned more than 49,000 acres near Hope in southern New Mexico. The Rocky Fire was 90 percent contained, and officials expected it to be fully contained Wednesday evening.
Lightning sparked the fire June 17 in the Lincoln National Forest about 20 miles southwest of Hope. The blaze, stretching from far western Eddy County into Otero and Chaves counties, burned on Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service and private land in tall grass, shrubs pinon and juniper.
About 120 people, including one hot shot crew, were mopping up. The Rocky Fire has cost more than $2 million to fight so far.
The Lincoln — including all hiking trails and forest roads — remains closed due to high fire danger.
Much of the burned area was on grazing allotments.
Incident Commander Craig Cowie instructed fire crews on Tuesday to haul left over water from fire suppression to livestock watering tanks in the area.
Officials said the ranchers, who have been struggling with severe drought, were "beside themselves'' when trucks hauling 31,000 gallons of water arrived and filled the near-empty tanks.
"Seeing the look on the ranchers' faces and hearing their words of appreciation is something I will never forget,'' said fire adviser Mike Atkinson.
Fire crews have wrapped up a smaller, lightning-sparked fire near the Rocky Fire. The West Fire burned 1,432 acres and was fully contained Tuesday night, fire information officer Deanna Younger said.
Crews in northern New Mexico had the 4,980-acre West Fork Fire 75 percent contained Wednesday, and officials predicted it would be fully contained Thursday. The fire, on media mogul Ted Turner's Vermejo Park Ranch, has cost $1.9 million to fight.
A light rain Tuesday afternoon reduced the lightning-caused fire to smoldering and smoking, and crews conducted burnout operations in interior islands of fuel on the northern part of the blaze. On Wednesday, they turned to mopping up and patrolling.
Another blaze that started as two separate fires in southern New Mexico has burned about 25,360 acres west of Roswell. The Bonney Fire was 70 percent contained.
Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
E-mail Story
Print Friendly
