GRANTS, NM – On June 15, National Park Service staff discovered a lighting caused fire burning on El Malpais National Monument lands, the Encerrita Fire is located approximately 15 miles south-southwest of Grants and from an update given on June 18 the fire is currently 1300 acres and is zero percent contained.
According to the National Park Service at El Malpais National Monument there were approximately 60 firefighters working on the Encerrita Fire. They said that the fire is burning in Ponderosa pine forest with grass and timber litter understory with some medium logging slash. They are expecting the fire to be active over the coming days and with rain being forecasted over the area later in the week they are expecting the rain to temper fire activity.
The National Park Service announced closures in a press release, “The Continental Divide Trail and Zuni-Acoma Trail are closed in El Malpais National Monument from Porter Ranch Rd. off Highway 52 to Highway 117. The western Zuni-Acoma Trail parking lot is closed. Closures have been posted and the public is asked to avoid closed roads and trails. The west side of the CDT remains open from the Emergency Operations Center to Porter Ranch Road. The El Calderon Trail remains open.”
Due to the Encerrita Fire, smoke inhalation is a major concern.
According to the Milan Volunteer Fire Department, smoke has settled into the low laying valleys and the metro area throughout the northeastern side of the county. They are reminding individuals about the 5-31 visibility method and how individuals can protect themselves against smoke inhalation.
Emergency Manager and Fire Marshal Dustin Middleton said that there has always been a concern surrounding fire safety in Cibola County. “A lot of people fight [fire safety programs] because they move to those [rural] areas because of the trees, because of the beauty, but when wildfires come knocking on their doors, they get mad at us because we can’t protect their property because we don’t have the resources.”
Middleton said that fire safety is always a major concern because there is always fire danger and has not entirely decreased despite the increased moisture. Middleton said that currently Cibola is moderately “fire ready” with fire crews in the areas working on any wildfires that occurs fairly quickly.
When it comes to precautions that citizens can take when it comes to wildfires and fire prevention, Middleton said that individuals should familiarize themselves with the Ready, Set, Go, program and other fire safety programs. He said, “Ready, Set, Go, is a really good program to read up on and gives you the tools and knowledge of what needs to be done.”
• Ready – Be ready. Take personal responsibility and prepare long before the threat of a wildland fire so your home is ready. Create defensible space by clearing brush away from your home. Use fire-resistant landscaping and harden your home with fire-safe construction measures. Create your Personal Wildland Fire Action Plan.
• Assemble emergency supplies and belongings in a safe place.
• Plan escape routes and make sure all those residing within the home know the plan of action and practice it regularly.
• Set – Situational awareness. Pack your emergency items. Stay aware of the latest news and information on the fire from local media, your local fire department, and public safety.
• Go – Act early! Follow your Personal Wildland Fire Action Plan. Doing so will not only support your safety but will allow emergency responders to best maneuver resources to combat the fire.
According to Middelton, the Forest Service and the National Parks have the fire danger at a high level. Middleton said that in his opinion he believes that the fire danger is at a very high level and that they have eliminated any open burning on the county side. He said, “When you can walk outside, step on grass and get crunches, it’s pretty dry. We haven’t seen enough moisture in the last 15 years to combat this problem.”
Middleton gave some updates regarding the Encerrita Fire. As of June 18, the fire was about 1000 acres with fire crews working on the flanks to prevent it from spreading. They were looking at putting a Hot Shot crew ahead of the fire to get a good anchor point to set a line and do a backburn. Bucket work was also looked at to pour water over the fire and on the perimeter of the fire. Middleton said, “It hasn’t been very active thus far, but that’s subject to change at two o’clock when we hit our Witching Hour… It’s the hottest part of the day, and that’s usually when our fire activities increase.”
Local fire departments were also at the incident to assist other fire crews with the Encerrita Fire by providing three water tenders to support helicopter operations.
When it comes to fire safety for the Fourth of July, Middleton said that it’s important to be responsible when it comes to fireworks.
He said, “I know everybody wants to show their independence and celebrate the Fourth of July, but at what cost? You fire off a bottle rocket from your yard and it catches someone’s yard on fire and burns down their house, is it really worth that form of display? There’s got to be a lot of responsibility when you’re dealing with pyrotechnics like that.” Most wildfires are human caused from fireworks, cigarettes, unattended campfires, etc. and it’s important to be responsible to prevent wildfires.
In the event of a wildfire affecting our area and resulting in possible evacuations, information can be found on the Cibola County website https://www.cibolacountynm. com/ the website will include evacuations, shelters and any other important information. Middleton said, “Otherwise we will be pushing out a Code Red, I know that a lot of people don’t pay attention to that because the City of Grants uses it for water notifications so much. Come July 1, the first part of July, we will be moving from Code Red to another program.”
The new program will function similarly to amber alerts to notify individuals in case of an evacuation. Another source of information that individuals can use to find information regarding wildfires in the area is https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/ Middleton said, “It’s kind spectacular to come out see the smoke and all the firefighters working and so forth but be cognizant of that, and our guys are trying to be safe as well. If you don’t really need to be in the area don’t hinder our operations by being onlookers or ‘Looky-loos’… It’s just going to hinder what we are capable of doing, because we have a lot of traffic going up and down [Highway 53], especially fire vehicles and staff, plus we have helicopters coming through. Be cognizant of that and try to avoid the area if possible.”
Additional updates on the Encerrita fire will be available on Facebook at ElMalpaisNPS. Closure orders may be adjusted in the coming days based on fire activity. Please contact the El Malpais Visitor Center at 505-876-2783 or visit www.nps.gov/elma for additional information on closures in the monument.