Forest Service ignites burn in mountains

Fire set in Pacheco Canyon; smoke may be visible in Santa Fe during planned blaze

U.S. Forest Service crews ignited slash piles Thursday on 253 acres in the Pacheco Canyon area north of Santa Fe.

The pile burn was aimed at eliminating debris from tree thinning that was done to reduce flammable materials, or fuels, that can feed wildfires.

Smoke may be visible in the Santa Fe area until the planned burn is completed and the fires smolder, the agency said in a news release. People hiking the Winsor Trail near Forest Road 102 may see flames and smoke from the burning piles.

The agency is conducting pile burns in forests in Central and Northern New Mexico to take advantage of cooler, damper winter conditions.

The decision to proceed with a pile burn depends on multiple factors including persistent snowpack, air quality, winds and the availability of firefighters who can respond to emergencies.

Crews completed most of the 642-acre Hyde Park pile burn last week.

Burning the four prescribed areas was challenging because crew members had to hike an hour to the piles in deep snow, the agency said. Because of heavy snowpack, about 2 acres of piles remain near the Black Canyon Campground and will be burned later.

The Pacheco Canyon and Hyde Park pile burns are a part of a larger effort to prevent catastrophic wildfires in the Santa Fe fireshed, the agency said.

Firesheds are identified as areas where a fire can start and spread to nearby communities. In the past 20 years, the Forest Service and its partners have completed prescribed fires throughout the area to reduce hazardous fuels and create a less flammable landscape, the agency said.