May 24 – A wildfire in Rio Arriba County continues to grow as New Mexico heads into a holiday weekend when dry conditions and high winds will create a high risk of fire across the state.
All of New Mexico is under a red flag warning this weekend, meaning warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds are expected to combine to create an increased risk of fire danger.
The Indios Fire, burning about 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of the village of Coyote, had grown to 1,809 acres by late Friday morning and remained completely unmanaged. There were 133 firefighters who fought the blaze with five engines, two chewing machines, a helicopter, a road grader and a water tender.
The lightning-caused fire has been burning since Sunday and is in “steep, nearly inaccessible terrain,” U.S. Forest Service officials said in a news release Friday.
Temperatures in the area reached about 72 degrees on Friday with low humidity and wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour in the afternoon.
“Wind trends will be stronger on Saturday, creating critical fire conditions despite the slight increase in humidity,” forest officials said.
This will be the case across New Mexico on Saturday, especially in the southeastern part of the state, where the 1,500-acre Blue 2 Fire near Ruidoso has already prompted the evacuation of some rural homes.
Saturday will be “critical for extreme fire danger, basically across the state of New Mexico,” Randall Hergert, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said in a Friday afternoon briefing.
Eastern New Mexico will be the windiest, with maximum gusts on Saturday of 45 mph in Las Vegas, 48 mph in Raton and Clines Corners and 45 mph in Carlsbad, Tucumcari and Santa Rosa. Santa Fe will be slightly calmer, with wind gusts not expected to exceed 60 km/h.
In addition to the wind and “terribly low humidity,” southeastern New Mexico and the area around the Sacramento Mountains could be hit by smoke blowing from the Blue 2 Fire and dust that limits visibility, Hergert said.
Northern New Mexico will likely be less affected, although forecasters say there is a possibility of isolated dust problems in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque areas.
As of Friday, forest managers had closed a large area around the Indios Fire, including the entire Chama River Canyon Wilderness south of the Rio Gallina and Rio Chama. The remainder of the closed area begins at Continental Divide Trail No. 298 at NM 96, heading north on Forest Road 77, through the wilderness to Skull Bridge on Forest Road 151.
Camping and water will be available at the Coyote Ranger Station for hikers on the Continental Divide Trail affected by the closure.
