By Rene Romo Journal Southern Bureau
CLOUDCROFT — Firefighters took advantage of a moderately windy Friday to slow the now 15,500-acre Peñasco Fire with repeated air drops of fire retardant and a strong push digging breaks around the blaze's perimeter.
The roughly 1,000 firefighters working the blaze achieved about 10 percent containment of the Peñasco Fire, which has destroyed 21 structures, including several homes in Wills Canyon, where it started Tuesday about 12 miles southeast of Cloudcroft.
Sacramento and Mescalero Hot Shot crews worked overnight Thursday and early Friday morning, lighting backfires and cutting fire breaks to stem the blaze that crept into James Canyon and menaced homes along U.S. 82 between Cloudcroft and Mayhill. Though the fire crept within a quarter-mile of some James Canyon houses, no additional homes were lost and there were no injuries, said fire information officer Donna Nemeth.
"I'm glad my house is safe, I'm glad everyone's house is safe. No one got hurt," said Raymond Davis, a registered trauma nurse, at his James Canyon home in the Mount Joy Estate subdivision. "They (hot shot crews) kept working it all night."
Friday afternoon, standing in his driveway, Davis hosed pink fire retardant off his backhoe.
Davis himself had also been busy before firefighters arrived — using chain saws, he and his brother needed just one hour to cut down about 40 trees on the slope above his home.
"If you live in the mountains, this (wildfire) is a given," a weary Davis said. "It's something you have to live with."
Firefighters cut 3 miles of fire line Thursday night and on Friday concentrated on the north and eastern fronts of the Peñasco Fire, Nemeth said.
Since Tuesday afternoon, the Peñasco Fire, pushed by 50-mph winds Wednesday, has traveled east about 7.5 miles from its origin in Wills Canyon and about 5 miles north to James Canyon.
The Otero County Sheriff's Department said the fire was started accidentally, either by a discarded cigarette or a faulty spark arrester on an all-terrain vehicle.
Meanwhile, 47-year-old Wills Canyon resident William Myers Jr. shot himself in the head Wednesday night in La Luz after taking responsibility in a suicide note for causing the fire, according to Otero County Sheriff John Lee.
Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley, who flew over the fire Thursday night, said he was amazed at the damage that could be caused by one spark or cigarette butt. He urged New Mexicans to thin trees around their homes and remove wood piles and other potential fuels to create defensible space.
"I would also like to send condolence from my family to the family of Willie Myers," Bradley said in statement Friday. "I was told repeatedly yesterday that Mr. Myers was an honest and honorable man who loved nature and felt devastated by what happened. I know all New Mexicans join me in mourning this loss."
With winds reaching only 15 mph Friday, air tankers and helicopters were able to douse fire fronts all day with fire retardant and water.
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