New Mexico Wildfire Updates - Blue 2, Indios fires
George Ducker
Communications Coordinator
New Mexico State Forestry Division - EMNRD
george.ducker@emnrd.nm.gov
505-699-0601
Wildfire Notification #18
The New Mexico Forestry Division would like to update you on two wildfires that are requiring the attention of federal, state, and local resources in New Mexico. The Blue 2 and Indios fires are burning on public lands and are being managed by Complex Incident Management Teams.
Blue 2 Fire
Highlights: Firefighters achieved additional containment just south of Bonito Lake as work on the fire continues. A virtual public meeting is planned for Thursday, June 6 at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Blue 2 Fire Facebook page.
Operations: Firefighters continue to focus on repairing dozer lines and hand lines created during the height of fire suppression efforts. As repair work is completed, it is inspected to ensure the standards identified by the Forest Service and New Mexico Forestry Division are met. Brush cut to remove fuels has been chipped. Excavators are working along the dozer line from the 131 road to the 108 road, installing erosion control features and pulling brush on top of disturbed soil. Crews are checking for any additional hot spots on Soldier Mountain and using hand tools to create small ridges that will divert water and reduce future erosion potential along the handline. The dozer line west of the communities along the Forest Service boundary is also being repaired. Masticators working along this dozer line have created a fuel break that will help reduce risk to the communities during future wildfires. Seed has been ordered and fire lines will be re-seeded. Law enforcement continues to enforce the forest closure so firefighters can safely complete their work.
Weather: Moisture is expected to enter the fire area today with potential for isolated afternoon storms. Significant moisture is expected in the coming days with higher humidity and daily storms.
Smoke: The fire is producing minimal smoke. Surrounding communities will see good air. Transported smoke from other active fires in upwind states or Mexico, may create some hazy skies on occasion. The interactive smoke map can still be found at fire.airnow.gov/
Closures: In the interest of public safety, camping and other recreation activities in the Bonito Lake Area are still restricted due to ongoing firefighting activities. The Forest closure order will continue to remain in effect for the White Mountain Wilderness Area.
Evacuations: All “Go” evacuation statuses have been lifted. For an interactive evacuation map go to tinyurl.com/Blue2Evacs
Safety: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the area, which includes uncrewed aircraft systems or drones. Find the TFR at tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/
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Acres : 7,532
Start Date : May 16, 2024
Location : 8 miles North of Ruidoso, White Mountain Wilderness Area
Cause: Lightning
Personnel: 399
Fuels : Timber/Grass/Brush
Containment : 77%
Resources : 5 crews | 14 engines | 2 helicopters | 2 bulldozers | 5 Water Tenders
M ap of Blue 2 fire
Indios Fire
Highlights: After continued efforts by firefighters, the Indios Fire remains at 11,500 acres. Firefighters have started to conduct suppression repair around the footprint of the fire, cleaning up and repairing disturbances from firefighting activities.
Operations: As fire activity continues to decrease, crews are focusing on repairing impacts from fire management activities across the fire area. Yesterday, on the northwest area of the fire, prep work consisted of hand cutting “ladder fuels” including branches and limbs of trees that could potentially carry fire from the ground to the canopies. Firefighters are continuing chipping operations along Forest Roads 169E and 64A to reduce the vegetation that was previously cut by fire crews. An uncrewed aircraft system, or drone, flew over the western portion of the fire along Forest Road 64 and identified a few isolated pockets of heat within the perimeter. Following this discovery, crews were sent in to locate and extinguish these hot spots. On Forest Road 77, crews continued to use machinery to cut vegetation into small wood chips and “mop up” burning material near control lines. These activities also included felling fire-damaged trees and cooling ash pits to ensure no heat remains. Along the eastern edge of the fire, crews continue to patrol and secure the perimeter. Water support crews assisted the ground crews with dust abatement and backhauled one of the 10,000-gallon portable water tanks that was no longer needed due to decreased fire activity. As firefighters complete chipping activities around the fire, crews will shift to areas where resources are most needed.
Weather: Strong high pressure will start to build over New Mexico today with much warmer temperatures through Saturday. Surface moisture will decrease through Thursday and then increase. Mid-level moisture will begin to increase Thursday with increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. Strong gusty outflow winds are possible near any storms.
Smoke: Visible smoke is diminishing in the area as fire activity decreases. Smoke monitors have been installed in Coyote, Gallina, Cañones, the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, and the Abiquiu Dam. A smoke outlook report for the Indios Fire is available online at the links below. View an interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/ . Learn more about smoke impacts at https://www.env.nm.gov/air-quality/fire-smoke-links/ .
Closures: The Santa Fe National Forest has issued an emergency area closure for the Indios Fire. The full closure order (No. 03-12-05-23-22) and map are available on Inciweb . Camping and water will be available at the Coyote Ranger Station for Continental Divide Trail hikers impacted by this closure.
Safety: A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place over the area, which includes uncrewed aircraft…