Firefighters battle blaze near Pecos

Dry Gulch Wildfire, growing at moderate rate, was scorching about 9 acres as of Friday afternoon, forest service says

Firefighters are battling a wildfire that appears to have started Thursday north of Pecos.

The Dry Gulch Wildfire, as it has been named, is located south of Dalton Canyon and west of N.M. 63. While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, there was lightning in the area Thursday, and there are no prescribed fires in the area.

“Smoke may be visible, and firefighters are focused on actively suppressing the wildfire in the wildland urban interface,” the Santa Fe National Forest said in a news release Friday.

As of Friday evening, fire crews had completed a hand line around the fire perimeter and planned to “continue to monitor throughout the weekend,” the national forest said in a Facebook post.

The fire was burning about 9 acres as of Friday afternoon and was “burning at low intensity with a moderate rate of spread potential,” the national forest said. Fire resources on scene include the Santa Fe National Forest hotshot crew, an engine, a battalion, the state Rio Grande hand crew and the national forest’s interagency helicopter, which is dropping water on the fire to slow its spread.

Crews are using Monastery Lake for water, but the lake is still open to the public. Fuel types in the area include oak brush, pinyon-juniper, ponderosa pine, and Douglas fir.

Much cooler and wetter condition are expected across much of north-central New Mexico on Saturday lingering into Saturday night, with rain and high-elevation snow likely Saturday, Forest Service meteorologist Kerry Jones said. Daytime highs on Saturday will generally be 10 to 15 degrees below normal.

“This favorable pattern will not only aid firefighting efforts, but it will temporarily slow snowmelt runoff,” Jones said.

Updates will be posted online at the Santa Fe National Forest website, fs.usda.gov/santafe, as well as on the national forest’s Facebook and X pages and at nmfireinfo.com.