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fire
June 8, 2002
Ponil Fire Acreage Scaled Back
The Associated Press
CIMARRON — Firefighters battling a series of wildfires in northeastern New Mexico got a double dose of good news Saturday. The winds weren't as strong as predicted and the amount of acres burned isn't as large as initially estimated.
The burned acreage from the Ponil Complex fire was "scaled back" from 90,000 to 72,000 acres, said Doug Parker, a fire information officer with the Type 1 National Incident Management team that took over the blaze on Saturday.
"We flew the fire and we were able to map it tighter," Parker said late Saturday.
About 1,000 firefighters worked Saturday on the blaze, which is about 10 percent contained. They got a break when winds that were expected to get up to 30 miles per hour or higher didn't surface.
"They did not really materialize," said fire information officer Chris Friend. "Most of the burning was in the interior of the fire and we made some really good progress." Friend and Parker, however, both said a wind alert was still up for Sunday afternoon.
"Sometime between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., we're expecting for this wind event to start working its way across the fire," Friend said. "With the erratic nature of these winds, we may have our work cut out for us on the northwest end."
Friend said the fire no longer was posing a threat to the small community of Ute Park, located near the southwest corner of the blaze.
"That's looking pretty good," he said. "It looks like the fire is about 6 miles from Ute Park and it's not moving in that direction."
"The fire is laying low this morning," fire information officer Tom Lavagnino said Saturday morning.
There were 28 crews assigned to the fire lines Saturday. Each crew consists of 20 firefighters. They were aided by 10 water-dropping helicopters. Additional engines, tenders, dozers and firefighters have been ordered to support those already working on the fire.
Windy conditions in northeastern New Mexico on Friday caused the fire to grow on the northwestern corner, fire information officer Tom Lavagnino said.
One of the firefighters' priorities is the community of Ute Park. "There's concern (from residents)," Lavagnino said. "There's a lot of smoke in the air and a lot of helicopter noise." There are approximately 150 houses in the area. Most are summer vacation homes.
Scouts were to begin arriving at the Philmont Scout Ranch this weekend for the Philmont's summer backpacking program. The fire has burned two sheds on the ranch.
Keith Gallaway, general manager of the 220-square mile ranch, said officials were working to ensure scout safety and to reroute itineraries.
Another fire continued to burn in El Malpais Wilderness in western New Mexico on Saturday. The Cherry Fire had burned just under 1,200 acres, information officer Terry Burton said. It was not threatening any structures.
"It's a wilderness area," Burton said. "We don't have any threatened or endangered species, plant or animal wise," she said. About 40 firefighters working in four handcrews were assigned to the fire along with about 10 smokejumpers and five engines, she said.
The fire was burning about 30 miles from Grants and smoke was drifting down a valley to the city Saturday morning, she said.
Fire officials said there were about 15 residences in the general area of the fire, and none was threatened. However, people were being advised that there was the potential for an evacuation if conditions got worse.
There was also concern that smoke from the fire was drifting across Interstate 40, causing visibility problems for drivers on the east-west interstate.
The Cherry Fire was apparently started by lightning.
