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Thursday, May 08, 2008
Trigo Fire Crews Make Progress Despite Dry, Windy Weather
By Matt Mygatt
Associated Press
Firefighters will be facing dry, windy weather for the next few days as they work to snuff a blaze that has blackened more than 21 square miles and burned 59 homes in central New Mexico's Manzano Mountains.
"The weather is not good for fire," Murt Sullivan, a public information officer with the National Park Service, said today.
"A lot of effort is being put in to not letting it (the fire) send a spark out into unburned fuel. The wind has been testing it, and so far it has passed," he said.
The human-caused Trigo Fire, mainly just west of the small communities of Torreon and Manzano, has torched 13,709 acres since it began April 15.
The fire, which is 75 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.
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.
Wind could gust to 38 mph today, which could send embers into unburned areas.
A 20-person crew equipped with six engines has been staged for any such flareups, Sullivan said.
"They're poised like a rattlesnake, ready to strike," he said.
Wind tested the southeastern containment lines Wednesday, but Sullivan said hot shot crews were able to keep the flames in check despite gusts up to 38 mph.
There are 667 people assigned to the blaze along with 26 engines, seven water tenders and two bulldozers.
Crews are concentrating on mopping up burned areas and strengthening containment lines, Sullivan said.
Three helicopters are poised to dump loads of water on burning areas, but "I'm thinking it's going to be way to windy for anything to be flying today," he said.
The fire has cost almost $9 million to fight so far.
In south-central New Mexico, crews were mopping up a 3,860-acre blaze in the Sacramento Mountains on Mescalero Apache land, said Tom Berglund, a fire information officer.
"It's really looking good," he said.
Firefighters also were widening containment lines to 300-400 feet in some areas, Berglund said.
"They're just making it cold from the outside in toward the center," he said. "As it dries out, every day there's a few more smokes that pop up, so they've got to get in on it."
Wind should be gentle most of today, but gusts could reach 31 mph, Berglund said.
The human-caused South Tularosa Fire, which began May 1 about two miles southeast of Mescalero, is 80 percent contained, Berglund said.
"This is one that had a lot of potential, but that first day of attack really caught it," he said.
There are 321 people assigned to the blaze, along with two helicopters, 15 engines, five bulldozers and five water tenders.
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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