Coordination key to fighting Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire
East Zone crews seize ‘control opportunities’ to try and contain massive wildfire
Lt. Gov. Howie Morales visited the Moreno Valley last Thursday (May 19) to be briefed on the Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire by top fire officials, area firefighters and Angel Fire village leaders.
Resource allocation to the fire has increased markedly within the space of a week, with over 800 additional fire personnel pouring into north-central New Mexico between May 17 and May 24.
As of Wednesday (May 25), just shy of 3,000 personnel were working to contain the 311,148-acre fire, the largest in the state’s history. Several fire base camps are set up in the Angel Fire area, and Morales visited the Angel Fire Fire Department, where maps and supplies were spread out within the large garage area.
Near Black Lake last Thursday, three wildland firefighters with the Angel Fire Fire Department were posted up in the vicinity of several dwellings and outbuildings, which were protected with hundreds of yards of hose line, water pumps and a 1,500-gallon water container called a pumpkin. All three firefighters joined the Angel Fire department just four days before the Calf Canyon Fire began, offering them their first two-week assignment. Soon after, that fire (the cause of which is still unknown) merged with an out-of-control prescribed burn named the Hermits Peak Fire. The combined fires expanded at a rapid pace, and about a week ago the three firefighters were assigned their second two-week rotation, this time much closer to home.
A majority of the personnel assigned to fight the wildfire are from out-of-state, but for the three Angel Fire firefighters, the stakes are higher because, they said, “It’s in our backyard.”
“It hits home more,” said firefighter Angelo LeDoux.
Donations have flooded into Angel Fire for both evacuees and firefighters. Asked what firefighters most want to see donated, interim Fire Chief Craig Sime laughed and responded: “I almost
brought you socks. We’re good on socks.”
Sime and West Zone Incident Commander Nickie Johnny both agreed that chewing tobacco is probably highest on many firefighters’ list of priority supplies.
Due to the complexity and scale of the fire, the decision was made on May 15 to divide it into three zones — South, East and West — managed by three incident management teams, something West Zone Operations Section Chief Ralph Lucas said speaks to “the historic nature of this event.”
East Zone Operations Section Chief Kieth Gurrola said the additional manpower has allowed for increased planning and proactive on-the-ground fire mitigation strategies.
“When this fire gets contained, it doesn’t mean that the possibilities for fire are not there,” especially considering the historic mega-drought New Mexico and the Southwest are experiencing, he said.
“We know that some time down the road there’ll be lightning,” Gurrola said. “Now, this could burn out here with some cooler weather coming in, and maybe we catch it and maybe contain it here. Does that mean this is all wasted? No, because you already have lines in place if you get a lightning strike.”
Incident Commander Johnny told Morales that the three management teams are coordinating with the New Mexico Forestry Division to be sure that fire personnel have a thorough understanding of where “values at risk” are located in and around the fire perimeter, and where, exactly, that perimeter should be drawn.
Johnny noted that state agencies have offered to loan heavy equipment and other resources to the incident management teams in command of the three zones.
“The state is very interested in assisting us any way they can, and they have those resources,” Johnny said. “If we’re far enough away from the fire, I don’t need firefighting-qualified dozers, I just need a dozer. So we’re going to be looking at utilizing non-firefighting resources for those north contingency plans that are between here and Colorado, basically.”
Asked what the West Zone most urgently needed, Gurrola didn’t hesitate. “Heavy equipment,” he said, pointing to a map that showed fire breaks and on-theground values protection strategies either planned or already taking place not just around Angel Fire, but across a large area stretching up to the New Mexico–Colorado border.
Crews have been working with logging equipment and other resources to establish contingency dozer lines southeast of Taos and elsewhere, and have been removing brush, dry fuels like pine needles and deadfall and the lower limbs on trees adjacent to structures.
On Tuesday, Gurrola said, “We received all [equipment] that we ordered, a lot of it came from the Pacific Northwest. With the cooler and moist weather we’ve had for the past few days, we postponed our plans to keep pushing north where the state was planning to send us resources.
“We postponed that mission due to favorable control opportunities on the fire,” he added.
Several days of milder winds and higher humidity, as well as concerted efforts to reduce fuel loads on the ground in the Moreno Valley and surrounding areas, led authorities to repopulate the Black Lake zone south of Angel Fire this week. Angel Fire and Taos Canyon are now on “Ready” status. Black Lake was returned to “Set” status after two weeks of “Go!” status evacuation orders.
Although the Chacon area southwest of Black Lake is still under “Go!” evacuation orders, residents in many areas of the East Zone are being allowed to return to their homes. Most road closures have been lifted in the area, but motorists are advised to check nmroads.com for the latest information. On Monday authorities reopened NM 434 between Black Lake and Mora, and NM 121 north of Chacon.
Angel Fire Resort, a destination for mountain biking and other activities in the warmer months, delayed their summer opening by a week, a signal that the summer tourist season could be far from normal. That’s concerning to village officials.
“They should be open now, and they’re not open yet,” Mayor Jo Mixon told Morales last week. “So revenue to everyone in town has taken a hit.”
Greg Ralph, marketing director for Angel Fire, told the Taos News that the resort is ready to open for summer this Friday (May 27).
“We’re following our plan,” Ralph said, adding that “Things are looking a whole lot better here. Those firefighters and law enforcement — everybody — did a great job of keeping our community buttoned up and safe.”
Mixon said she’s expecting some tourists to come just to see the burn scars that will be visible in the area long after the Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire is over.
“What do you call em? LookieLoo’s,” she said.