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          Front Page  fire

June 13, 2002

New Mexico Fires Grow Despite Calmer Weather

By The Associated Press
An aggressive new fire leapt tree to tree Thursday near Pecos, while a 91,000-acre fire curved westward, prompting firefighters to build protective fire lines north of Cimarron and Eagle Nest.
    Firefighters have said they fear a new round of lightning could spark new fires. National Weather Service meteorologist Kerry Jones said the lightning just might come with some rainfall.
    The Roybal Fire, four miles northeast of Pecos and south of Cow Creek, broke out Thursday and initially was estimated at 75 acres and growing within two hours of being spotted in the early afternoon.
    Air tankers were ordered to fight the blaze.
    "It's very active   —   running, spotting, torching, crowning in the ponderosa pine," said Dolores Maese, a spokeswoman for the Santa Fe National Forest.
    Terri Wildermuth, a spokeswoman for the state Forestry Division, said about five homes and 10 cabins are in the area about four miles northeast of Pecos, two miles south of the Cow Creek campground.
    The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. Lightning had not been ruled out, Maese said.
    The 16,000-acre Cherry Fire burning south of Grants near El Malpais lava beds was 80 percent contained Thursday, with full containment predicted in the evening, fire information officer Dave Langley said. The cost of battling the Cherry Fire, which broke out June 4, is currently at about $2.5 million, he said.
    The Ponil Complex, which broke out on the Philmont Scout Ranch on June 2, was 25 percent contained. Full containment is forecast for June 19, fire information officer Tom Lavagnino said.
    More than 1,200 people are assigned to it, he said.
    "We're building line on the west end of the fire in hopes of containing fire growth at that end," Lavagnino said. The line was near Baldy Peak, north of Eagle Nest Lake, he said.
    The fire is "slowly creeping" westward because of the availability of fuels, not because of wind, Lavagnino said
    One firefighter suffered a twisted ankle Wednesday battling the blaze, he said.
    Lightning was expected to focus late Thursday west of Raton near the Colorado state line, a little north-northeast of the Ponil Complex Fire, Jones said.
    Many people in northern New Mexico were anxious as thick columns of smoke from several wildfires continue to dot the horizon.
    Cimarron residents were acutely aware of the Ponil blaze. No structures were immediately threatened by that fire, but residents became worried when they saw smoke drifting in Wednesday from the west.
    That smoke came from the Montoya Fire, which grew Wednesday night to about 2,200 acres, said Jean Gilbertson, a fire information officer from Arizona who was assigned to the Montoya Fire.
    She said the fire was human-caused and under investigation.
    "We're getting a lot of smoke over here from the fire and people have been calling," said fire information officer Chris Friend, stationed near Cimarron. "We've been getting plenty of calls."
    Hot temperatures and low humidity helped the Montoya Fire jump containment lines Wednesday.
    Ten air tankers took turns dropping fire retardant while five handcrews battled the blaze on the ground. Fire information officer Ignacio Peralta said the day's work began to pay off after dark as the fire settled down.
    The good news was that the flames were moving away from the community of Canjilon.
    No structures were threatened, but the Canjilon watershed was in jeopardy, Gilbertson said.