San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Prescribed burns led to huge blaze, review concludes
SANTA FE, N.M. — Two fires that merged to create the largest wildfire in New Mexico history have both been traced to prescribed burns set by U.S. forest managers as preventative measures, federal investigators said.
The findings could hold implications for the future use of prescribed fire to limit the buildup of dry vegetation amid a U.S. Forest Service moratorium on the practice. They also could affect complex deliberations concerning emergency aid and liability for a fire that has spread across nearly 500 square miles and destroyed at least 330 homes.
The two fires east of Santa Fe joined in April to form the enormous blaze at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains, in the Sangre de Cristo range.
One of the fires was previously traced to April 6, when a prescribed burn, set by firefighters to clear out small trees and brush that can fuel wildfires, was declared out of control.
On Friday, investigators said they had tracked the source of the second fire to the remnants of a prescribed winter fire that was dormant through several snowstorms only to flare up again last month.
Investigators said the prescribed “pile burn” was initiated in January at Gallinas Canyon in the Santa Fe National Forest outside Las Vegas, N.M., and concluded in the final days of that month. Fire was reported again in the same vicinity on April 9 and escaped
Hannah Kligman leads a firefighting team battling hot spots May 23 from the the largest wildfire in New Mexico history in the Carson National Forest west of the town of Chacon.
control 10 days later amid dry, hot and windy conditions, Forest Service investigators found.
Scientists and forest managers are racing to develop new tools to forecast the behavior of planned fires amid climate change and an enduring drought in the American West. Prescribed fires are aimed at limiting the accumulation of
timber and underbrush that, if left unattended, can fuel extremely hot and destructive wildfires.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a statement called the investigation results a “first step toward the federal government taking full responsibility” for the New Mexico wildfire. She highlighted her pending request to President Biden
to direct the Federal Emergency Management Administration to pay for 100% of costs related to a broad range of recovery efforts.
Forest Service Chief Randy Moore recently announced a 90-day pause and review of protocols for prescribed fires.