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Fires Snow Helping Firefighters Corral Ojo Peak Fire |
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fire
Friday, November 23, 2007
Snow Helping Firefighters Corral Ojo Peak Fire
Associated Press
MOUNTAINAIR — Snow that fell overnight in the Manzano Mountains has helped firefighters battle a wildfire that has charred 7,500 acres and several structures in a rugged, rural area.
The Ojo Peak Fire is still active, but crews made a lot of progress Thanksgiving Day, and the blaze was 40 percent contained by this morning, said fire information officer Dana Howlett.
"There's a little bit of fire creeping down the mountain, but in areas that have been burned," she said.
A crew working to protect structures has been demobilized, "so things have cooled there," Howlett said.
She said the winter storm brought "varying amounts of snow up and down the mountain," and that more snow predicted for this evening will help.
However, winter weather also means more hazardous conditions for firefighters and slows down the process of moving equipment where it needs to go, she said. Some crews may be held for a while in Mountainair because of the steep terrain and hazardous conditions, she said.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the area, saying at least a few inches of snow were expected in the mountains.
About 150 firefighters are assigned to the blaze.
The fire burned at least three homes, four outbuildings and several vehicles. People in 75 to 100 homes in the villages of Punta del Agua and Manzano, along with residents in ranches scattered around the area, were evacuated.
A shelter set up at Mountainair High School was empty Thursday. Doug Williams of the Cibola National Forest said most residents are staying with family and friends.
Forest officials say the aggressive spread of the fire slowed at midweek as it moved into an area where the Forest Service had initiated a thinning project.
"That really laid it down and allowed the firefighters to do a good job," fire information officer Ricardo Zuniga said.
The fire, on the south end of the Manzano Mountain Wilderness, broke out about 3 a.m. Monday. The cause has not been determined, but forest officials said there has been no lightening in the area for a month.
Strong wind pushed the fire from a couple of hundred acres to the thousands late Tuesday into early Wednesday, forcing authorities to wake residents in the rural area southeast of Albuquerque and tell them to leave.
Copyright ©2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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