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Thursday, June 26, 2008
More Evacuations Urged as Big Spring Fire Grows to 3,000 Acres
Associated Press
TAJIQUE — Torrance County sheriff's deputies today were urging people to evacuate an area northeast of where a forest fire in central New Mexico's Manzano Mountains had already driven out about 350 people — six weeks after an adjacent fire caused evacuations in the same area.
Forest officials could not immediately say how many homes or people were affected by the lastest voluntary evacuation. They urged residents to leave an area southwest of mile marker 4 on N.M. 337, and to register at a Red Cross Center at the Estancia Community Center.
The Big Spring Fire, sparked by lightning Monday night in the Cibola National Forest, charred at least 3,000 acres by Thursday morning, said Vicki Fox, a fire information officer.
The fire is burning thick stands of mixed conifer, ponderosa pine, pinon and juniper trees.
The earlier 350 evacuees came from Tajique and the subdivisions of Sherwood Forest and Forest Valley on the east side of the mountains, Fox said.
Some 150 campers and staff at the Inlow Baptist Youth Camp were evacuated Tuesday.
Firefighters are using hand tools and bulldozers to clear a line around the blaze and are tying into a line that had been cleared around the earlier Trigo Fire.
The human-caused Trigo, which started April 15 and was contained May 11, charred more than 21 square miles, razed 59 homes and forced hundreds of residents from Tajique, Torreon and the surrounding area.
About 400 firefighters are battling the Big Spring Fire, which is northeast of the Trigo burn site.
"They made pretty good progress overnight to protect Tajique on the west side of the fire," Fox said. "They were also able to protect some isolated homes."
Today's weather forecast was not ideal.
"Continued hot and dry. We've got scattered thunderstorms, which also can add winds," Fox said.
But a cool front will cause temperatures to drop and humidity to rise this weekend, the National Weather Service said. The additional moisture should trigger more showers and thunderstorms.
The blaze has prompted Gov. Bill Richardson to declare a disaster in Torrance County. The declaration makes emergency state funding available for firefighting efforts and emergency public services.
Richardson also authorized the New Mexico National Guard to provide help if needed.
"Unfortunately, Mother Nature isn't giving us a break from these dry, windy conditions," the governor said.
By Wednesday night, the fire was about 1½ to 2 miles west of Tajique, said Arlene Perea, another fire information officer.
"We did get some dozer line between the fire and Tajique last night, and will continue to work on that. That's obviously a major point of concern," she said.
Meanwhile, more firefighters have been released from another blaze that burned more than 49,000 acres in southern New Mexico. The Rocky Fire was sparked by lightning June 17 in the Lincoln National Forest about 20 miles southwest of Hope.
The Lincoln — including all hiking trails and forest roads — remains closed due to high fire danger. Much of the burned area by the Rocky Fire was on grazing allotments.
Crews in northern New Mexico were mopping up the 4,980-acre West Fork Fire, which was 85 percent contained today, said Dan Ware, state Forestry Division spokesman. The fire, west of Raton on media mogul Ted Turner's Vermejo Park Ranch, has cost $1.9 million to fight.
Another blaze that started as two separate fires in southern New Mexico has burned about 25,360 acres west of Roswell. Crews were mopping up and patrolling the Bonney Fire, which was 90 percent contained today, said Jennifer Myslivy, fire information officer.
Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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