Controlled burn set for Glorieta Camps to reduce fire risk

Residents and passersby might see flames and smoke from a prescribed 55-acre burn on Glorieta Camps’ property sometime after Monday.

Glorieta Camps, the Forest Stewards Guild and the Nature Conservancy’s Rio Grande Water Fund staff are working together on the controlled burn with the aim of preventing wildfires on the private land abutting a hillside west of Pecos.

The fire will be ignited next week if conditions remain favorable, said Eytan Krasilovsky, the Forest Stewards Guild’s deputy director.

The controlled burn, which requires state and county permits, was scheduled for March 2019 but had to be postponed because wind was blowing toward houses and Interstate 25, Krasilovsky said.

A prescribed burn will reduce the risk of wildfire on a property hundreds of people visit during the summer to camp and take part in outdoor activities, he said, adding it’s in line with the goals of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition.

“We’re trying to get ahead of the problem so the property is more resilient to drought and wildfire,” Krasilovsky said.

Smoke probably will be visible from Pecos, La Cueva, Eldorado and Santa Fe, he said. Most of the smoke should clear within a day after the fire burns out, though some haze may linger for as long as a week, Krasilovsky said.

A trained team, which has conducted prescribed burns on Nature Conservancy Water Fund lands in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado, will light the fire, he said.

The team is supported by an agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and the Nature Conservancy.