Updated 7:52am 6/2
The Tres Lagunas fire has now burned more than 6,250 acres in the Santa Fe National Forest.
It is zero percent contained and more than doubled in size within the past 24-hours.
A bit of good news however is anticipated for fire crews. Winds are expected to calm down in the area today and allow air tankers and helicopters to dump water on flames, New Mexico forest officials said.
Humidity could still be an issue for the crews and contribute extreme fire behavior in the area.
A public meeting will take place today at 6 p.m. at the Pecos High School gymnasium.
Voluntary evacuations have been issued for Cow Creek area residents.
An evacuation center has been opened at the Pecos High School gymnasium.
The San Miguel Sheriff’s Posse – Pecos Rodeo grounds has been set up for pets and livestock.
Other areas evacuations include:
134 summer homes, 6-10 primary residences along Highway 63 beginning at El Macho church north toward Jacks Creek Campground.
Forest Service campgrounds: Jacks Creek, Iron Gate, Panchuela, Cowles, Holy Ghost, Links Tract, Field Tract, Davis Willow, Dalton, Lower Dalton
NM Game & Fish Campgrounds: Mora, Willow Creek, Bert Clancy, Terrero 6
Trailheads: Jacks Creek, Iron Gate, Panchuela, Geronimo, Cowles, Holy Ghost
Updated 2:22pm 6/1
Tres Lagunas Fire now has burned over 5,300 acres
Thompson Fire is just over 650 acres
Update 6:32am 6/1/
Fueled by high winds and dry conditions, the Tres Lagunas Fire continued to blaze out of control late Friday, shutting off access to one of the most used portions of the Santa Fe National Forest.
The typically quiet town of Pecos was bustling Friday as nearly 300 firefighters and untold numbers of support personnel infiltrated the town. Gov. Susana Martinez arrived Friday afternoon, declaring a state of emergency for San Miguel County, freeing up state money to help with the fire response and community needs.
More firefighters were expected to join the efforts this weekend as the blaze doubled in less than 24 hours – growing to about 2,500 acres by the end of its second day.
N.M. 63, which runs from Pecos into the canyon where the fire is raging, is closed to traffic from Dalton Canyon north to where it dead ends in the Pecos Wilderness. There is no telling how long it will remain closed. “It’s an ongoing situation,” said Lawrence Lujan, a spokesman for the national forest. “It’s very hard to predict how long this will last or how far it’ll spread. Based on the conditions, (the fire) has the potential to grow very quickly.”
Thompson fire is now over 800 acres burned. That fire is North of Jemez Springs.
Click here for more information on New Mexico Wildfires https://nmfireinfo.com/2013/05/31/tres-lagunas-morning-update/
**********************************************************
Update at 8:54pm 5/31
Tres Lagunas Fire has burned over 2,000 acres
Thompson Fire, Near Jemez Springs has burned over 300 acres
**********************************************************
BREAKING NEWS 5:19pm 5/31
More than five acres are burning 10 miles north of Jemez Springs.
Has burned over 300 acres.
The cause of the fire is due to a tree falling on a power line, State Forestry officials say.
Officials say structures are threatened by the fire, though it’s unknown if any homes in the area have been evacuated.
The fire started on private land and has burned onto federal Forest Service property.
Sandoval County firefighters and state forestry fire crews are on scene.
Click here for more information on New Mexico Wildfires https://nmfireinfo.com/2013/05/31/tres-lagunas-morning-update/
***********************************************************
Update 3:12pm 5/31
From KOB TV
PECOS, N.M. (AP) – As firefighters gained ground Friday on a wildfire in the mountains north of Los Angeles, another blaze flared up in the West. A fast-moving fire in New Mexico’s Santa Fe National Forest prompted evacuations of residences and campgrounds, threatened cabins and vacation homes, and closed a highway.
Officials asked residents in 140 homes – mostly used for the summer – to evacuate as crews battled the over 2,000 acre blaze near the communities of Pecos and Tres Lagunas, about 25 miles west of Santa Fe. They also evacuated campgrounds and closed hiking trailheads around Pecos, Las Vegas and Santa Fe as they worked on containment lines in hopes of preventing the first from moving toward the capital city’s watershed and the Tres Lagunas community.
New Mexico State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware said the evacuations came after the fire jumped N.M. Highway 63. Officials say a downed power line ignited the blaze Thursday. “Fire activity is picking up this morning and because of expected high winds, low humidity and increasing temperatures, the spread potential is high,” Ware said.
It’s the first major wildfire this year in New Mexico, which is in its driest two-year period in nearly 120 years of record-keeping.
“It has been a slow start to the season, until this point,” said State Forester Tony Delfin. “Now we expect the conditions to go on until the monsoons come or the weather changes the pattern.
Gov. Susana Martinez said about 40 people, mostly hikers and campers, had been evacuated from the area.
Meanwhile, crews battling the fire north of Los Angeles took advantage of cool morning weather Friday to make progress but scattered flames continued to climb hillsides.
The 1,400-acre wildfire was 15 percent contained and as many as 500 firefighters hoped to make further progress before the day turned hot and dry, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Nathan Judy said.
A flare-up prompted authorities to briefly evacuate about 25 homes along a canyon road in the Angeles National Forest in the morning, but residents were later allowed to return.
“Right now the fire’s not doing a whole lot. It’s just making small runs here and there,” Judy said. “There’s no large fire front.”
He said the blaze is burning near power lines, although utilities report no damage.
In New Mexico Friday morning, one helicopter helped with efforts to secure the western perimeter of the fire, but it was grounded by late morning due to high winds.
Nearly 300 firefighters were working on the blaze, which was being fueled by winds from the north and northwest.
Duane Archuleta, forest fire management officer for the Santa Fe and Carson National Forest, said if winds pushed the blaze toward an area that burned in the 2000 Viveash fire, it might help their efforts to contain it.
“The fire could run and hit that ridge and kind of die out on that ridge,” he said.
No structures had burned and no injuries were reported, but the fire was burning near Tres Lagunas, an upscale community of cabins and vacation homes.
“They’re really working that hard and holding onto that,” Archuleta said
Among those evacuated were a group of seventh-graders staying at the Panchuela Campground.
Some homeowners in the Pecos Canyon area couldn’t reach their houses Thursday because emergency crews had closed off N.M. 63. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported many cars turned around, while others parked alongside on the shoulder with the hope that the road would reopen.
Tracy Bennett, manager of Hidden Valley Ranch, said he evacuated the people on the ranch as soon he saw smoke. He also said the power went out there around 3:30 p.m.
“I got my people out of here,” he said. “They were quite alarmed.”
Update 8:58am
Officials say residents in 150 homes north of Macho Creek have now been asked to evacuate. The Fire has now burned over 500 acres. Strong winds up to 40 mph expected this afternoon, Please pray.
Two hundred firefighters are battling the blaze or are on the way, with support from two helicopters and one air tanker.
No injuries have been reported
Click here for more information on New Mexico Wildfires https://nmfireinfo.com/2013/05/31/tres-lagunas-morning-update/
**********************************************************
8 p.m. – The fire that broke out in Pecos Canyon Thursday afternoon now has quickly burned through more than 100 acres about 10 miles north of the village of Pecos, threatening structures and forcing evacuations.
The fire was shooting huge flames and giant plumes of smoke into the air just about a mile west of Tres Lagunas, an upscale community of cabins and vacation homes along N.M. 63 and the Pecos River.There were reports of people being sheltered in a day-use area along the river and efforts to evacuate a group of teens who were at the Panchuela Campground, well north of the fire zone.
The evacuations were from areas north of the fire, according to Dan Ware, spokesman for the state Forestry Division. The evacuees were being taken to or told to go north to Cowles Pond, at the north end of the canyon and several miles from the fire, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman said.
A combination of air tankers, helicopters and hand crews were attacking the blaze, which started around 3 p.m.
Firefighters on the scene said the fire started along N.M. 63 when a power line fell, but Ware said the cause of the fire had not been determined.
There were high winds much of the day and they continued after the fire started. At 5 p.m., the Forestry Divison pegged the wind speed at 24 mph.
Bob Ingersoll, a captain with Pecos Canyon Fire and Rescue, said near the scene that the fire started by the road after a power line got caught in trees. He said the blaze raced up the canyon. “The wind shifted and we had to get out of there,” he said.
Please join us here at FGGAM and be in prayer for the safety of the residents, firefighters, rescue workers, police and all people.
We also encourage you to join us to be in prayer each day at NOON for rain.
Lord, we pray for your rains to come and heal our land, in Jesus name AMEN!
Homes just north of where a fire is burning in the Pecos Canyon area are being evacuated, State Forest officials said.
The Fire is near the community of Tres Lagunas.
About 20 State Forestry fire crews and local firefighters are responding to the fire which is burning around the Vivash burn scar near the community of Tres Lagunas.
The fire, which started around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, is approximately 40 acres, and fire officials say it’s considerably active having jumped Highway 63.
Comments are closed.