Despite unfavorable conditions, crews contain forest fire near Chimayó

Resources move to larger, slow-burning blaze in Bonito Canyon

The Medio forest fire near Chimayó wasn’t spreading Monday despite hot temperatures and dry conditions, officials with the Santa Fe National Forest said.

Some firefighting resources instead were allocated to a larger burn in Bonito Canyon on the Carson National Forest, nine miles from the community of Cañon Plaza. That lightning-caused fire has been burning at a low intensity since June 3 and has so far consumed 280 acres, according to New Mexico Fire Information.

The fire in the Santa Fe National Forest, southwest of Santa Cruz Lake, remained contained at 3¼ acres as of Monday afternoon, according to Julie Anne Overton, a Forest Service spokeswoman. The cause of the fire, which began Saturday, was unknown.

“We got a lot of good work accomplished [Sunday] with the bucket drops and crews building fire line,” Overton said in an email.

She said crews would stay on the fire through the night because wind speeds are expected to reach between 10 and 15 miles per hour.

The Agua Sarca Trail was closed as a result of the fire.

A helicopter used for water drops on the fire was sent back to the Bonito Fire, Overton said, where crews said Monday they planned to allow the fire to burn 4,600 acres to deal with dead timber and other wood debris.

Also Monday, the Forest Service said it had discovered 13 abandoned or unattended campfires over the weekend in the Jemez Ranger District and issued a plea to visitors to learn about campfire safety procedures and follow them.

“As we move deeper into summer, the forest is getting hotter and drier, and the risk of wildfire is climbing by the minute,” said district ranger Brian Riley

The ranger district also reported vandalism at the Gilman Tunnels, which are closed while crews remove loose rock and stabilize walls. The tunnels, a popular recreation area, were blasted out of rock in the 1920s to provide logging companies with railroad access.