Wind eases, aiding fight against most wildfires

Mora County’s Cooks Peak Fire remains uncontained

A lull in the wind helped firefighters gain further ground on four of the five fires burning around the state.

Three of the wildfires were over 80 percent contained, and a fourth was 70 percent contained.

The Cooks Peak Fire that sparked Sunday in Mora County near Ocate remained uncontained Tuesday afternoon.

It had not grown much past the 2,200 acres it had consumed Monday, according to Wendy Mason of the State Forestry Division.

“We’re preparing for strong winds the rest of this afternoon,” she said Tuesday. “And for the rest of the week, it looks like, unfortunately.”

Later in the day, Mason said “the fire was really active today with these winds.”

Though no new evacuation orders were issued in the region, the Colfax County communities of Sweet Water, Rayado, Sunny Side and Miami were asked to prepare for a possible evacuation if necessary, Mason said.

As of 6 p.m., she said she did not have an updated estimate on how many acres were burning.

Meteorologist Brian Guyer of the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said gusts were expected to pick up through Tuesday evening.

“Winds are strengthening across the area, and we are seeing more frequent gusts into the 40- to 50-mile-per-hour range along the Sangre de Cristos,” he said.

Winds were in the 30 mph to 40 mph range in the southeastern portion of the state, where firefighters were slowly getting the upper hand on both the McBride and Nogal Canyon fires.

The deadly McBride Fire, which destroyed 207 homes and killed two people in Ruidoso, was 84 percent contained, while the Nogal Canyon Fire was 70 percent contained, said Lincoln National Forest spokeswoman Laura Rabon. “Everything is looking good” in terms of progress on both fires, she said.

If fire crews continue to maintain the upper hand on the McBride Fire, where close to 440 firefighters are engaged, she said, some might be released to combat blazes elsewhere.

Rabon said sometime Monday night someone vandalized four all-terrain utility vehicles that were being used by fire crews fighting the McBride Fire.

“We think they were trying to steal them,” she said.

She asked anyone with information about the vandalism to call the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office at 575-648-2341.

The damage did not hamper fire crews’ efforts against the blaze, she added.

The Hermits Peak Fire northwest of Las Vegas was 81 percent contained Tuesday, said Santa Fe National Forest spokeswoman Julie Anne Overton.

“They’re trying to get that last 19 percent buttoned up,” she said. The wildfire ignited April 6 when high winds kicked up embers from a prescribed burn.

The cause of the other fires — including the Big Hole Fire south of Belen, which was 85 percent contained by Monday — remain under investigation.

Fire crews may get a brief break Wednesday as winds, expected to move in from the west, drop to the 20 mph to 30 mph range, Guyer said.