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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Firefighters Brace for Winds As They Mop Up N.M. Wildfires
By Matt Mygatt
Associated Press
Firefighters braced for another windy day as they worked on mopping up a fire that has blackened more than 21 square miles in central New Mexico's Manzano Mountains.
"They've made good progress on the fire lines," Paula Shattuck, a fire information officer, said today. "But they're not going to let their guard down."
The human-caused Trigo Fire, mainly just west of the small communities of Torreon and Manzano, has torched 59 homes and 13,680 acres since it began April 15.
The fire, which is 60 percent contained, had forced the evacuation of about 400 people. The last of them, from the Sherwood Forest subdivision north of the fire's edge, were allowed to return to the area Tuesday.
Wind will test the southeastern containment lines today, Shattuck said.
"Smoke from the hot spots and blackened whirlwinds from cold ash from the interior of the fire will be visible," she said.
Breezes picked up Tuesday night, when there was a smattering of rain. "It was nice. It kept the dust down," Shattuck said.
There were 774 people assigned to the blaze today along with 30 engines, 13 water tenders and three bulldozers. Five helicopters have been dumping loads of water on burning areas.
The fire has been burning bone-dry oak brush and pinon, juniper and mixed conifer trees on the east side of the Manzanos, where terrain varies from relatively flat lower areas to rough higher country.
The fire has cost almost $9 million to fight so far.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration and state and local officials surveyed the damage Tuesday.
In south-central New Mexico, crews were bolstering containment lines and mopping up a 3,860-acre blaze in the Sacramento Mountains on Mescalero Apache land, said Gwen Shaffer, a fire information officer.
"The fire itself is just burning and smoldering in stumps and logs, so they're just trying to cool those off right now," she said.
"In the mopup phase, they dig underneath to make sure there's no smoldering stumps so in case we get another wind event it's not going to kick something out from underneath the ground," Shaffer said.
Wind was forecast to gust up to 30 mph today, she said.
The human-caused South Tularosa Fire began Thursday about two miles southeast of Mescalero. It was 70 percent contained, Shaffer said.
There were 461 people assigned to the blaze, along with three helicopters, 16 engines, six bulldozers and five water tenders. Air tankers were available if needed to drop fire retardant.
The fire has been burning ponderosa pine trees on fairly flat terrain.
Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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