Associated Press
MANZANO — Fire crews did burnout operations on the southern end of a 4,910-acre fire in a rugged area of the Manzano Mountains, and a hand crew was scheduled to work on its west side today as firefighters move toward fully containing the blaze.
Winds were calm Sunday afternoon, but officials kept an eye on the weather as the crews carried out the burnout operations on the Trigo Fire, said fire information officer Deanna Younger.
The blaze was 83 percent contained as of this morning.
Helicopters dropped about 8,000 gallons on hot spots Sunday.
"We have starting demobbing some resources, starting to downsize," Younger said.
The human-caused fire has cost $5.45 million to fight so far.
A highlight of Sunday morning's fire crew meeting was the presentation of 55 thank you notes from kindergarten students at Albuquerque's Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary School, who proclaimed the fire crews "super heroes" and thanked them for saving the mountain, Younger said.
Forest and fire officials met with area residents Saturday night in Torreon to update them on the status of the fire and give them information about how to do rehabilitation work on their burned land.
The Trigo Fire has burned nine weekend or summer homes and several outbuildings since it started April 15 in the Cibola National Forest and moved onto private land.
Younger said officials at the meeting told members of the public about watershed assessments that would be done and what local assistance might be available to them as well as how they might be notified of evacuations in the future, Younger said.
She described the topics as "a healing from this fire and a preparedness of what could come."
High winds fanned the wildfire April 20, sending it racing toward the communities of Manzano and Torreon, and officials called on people to voluntarily evacuate. Few people heeded the call, however, and the Red Cross closed its evacuation centers because so few people showed up.
Closures forced by the fire remained in effect for New Canyon Road to Capilla Peak, Red Canyon Campground and Forest Road 358 into Bartolo Canyon.
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