A fire that burned in a remote canyon of the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces consumed about 400 acres before burning itself out, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting.

"It's out," Tom McKibbin, incident commander for the Bureau of Land Management, told the Sun-News. "... That little bit of moisture we got Sunday night put the last of it out."

The so-called Kanuck Fire -- which got its name from the fact it was sparked during a Canadian live-fire exercise on Fort Bliss land -- started last Wednesday but was never a threat to any structures and was allowed to burn itself out, the Sun-News reported.

Here's where the fire burned, according to the Southwest Coordination Center's New Mexico fire map. 

7:30am 2/29/08 -- Fire Burning in the Organ Mountains: Blaze that started in a remote canyon may have been sparked by weapons test.

Bureau of Land Management officials will assess a fire burning in a remote canyon in the Organ Mountains and decide whether to suppress it or let it burn, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting.

The fire, which is burning on White Sands Missile Range property near BLM land, so far has posed no threat to buildings or private property, but has been visible from Las Cruces, the Sun-News said.

In fact, according to the Sun-News, residents of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County have been asked not to call 911 to report the fire since local, state and federal officials are well aware of it.

Dona Ana County Fire Marshal Paul Chavez told the Sun-News this morning that the fire may have been ignited by weapons testing on the missile range.

The exact size of the fire isn't known yet, but Chavez said BLM officials are reviewing the fire's progress, location and potential fuel load before making a decision this morning on how to proceed, the Sun-News reported. 

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