Three more abandoned campfires uncovered as crews battle Cajete Fire
As some 300 firefighters continued working to contain a 1,400-acre conflagration caused by an abandoned campfire, forest officials said they had discovered at least three more abandoned campfires smoldering in the forest by mid-Sunday.
“It’s hard to believe, it’s frustrating,” said Brian Riley, district ranger for the Jemez District of the Santa Fe National Forest, on Sunday. “It’s primarily people who are just careless. They camp out and wake up and jump into the car and take off and leave their campfires behind.”
With some 90 percent of all forest fires estimated to be caused by humans, this carelessness is risky. Riley said that in any given weekend, forest officials will find up to 15 abandoned campfires still smoldering.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, there have been over 50 human-caused fires in the state since the beginning of the year. Another 35 fires were caused by lightning in that time period.
Santa Fe forest authorities released a list of campfire dousing methods to inform the public about the proper way to put out a campfire.
“If it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to leave,” a Santa Fe National Forest news release said.
No one was hurt in the Cajete Fire that started Thursday and grew to nearly 1,400 acres by Saturday evening. It burned on both sides of N.M. 4, from the east fork of the Jemez River to the southern border of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.
Riley said the fire was at least 80 percent contained as of Sunday
evening.
Though forest officials closed N.M. 4 for most of the weekend, they re-opened it noon Sunday.
The area the fire covers includes one of the last refuges for the Jemez Mountain salamander, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services placed on an endangered species list in 2013. Riley said it is hibernation season for the salamanders and they tend to dig deeply underground during this time.
The Cajete Fire is not the only blaze in New Mexico. There are a total of 11 forest fires active in the state, including blazes in both the Carson National Forest and the Gila National Forest.
Low precipitation and high heat in the state is not helping. Sunday was sunny and dry with temperatures nearing the 90-degree mark, and slight bursts of gusty wind popped up throughout the day. Christopher Luckett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said, “The story this week is continuous high and dry with occasional spotty rain activity.”
However, he said there is the possibility of a cold front that could bring precipitation to the state by Friday or Saturday.