Saturday, April 19, 2008

Trigo Fire continues to consume acres of forest, presenting challenge

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

More than 300 firefighters fighting the Trigo Fire in the Manzano Mountains are gaining on the large blaze, but because of the rugged terrain and persistent winds, their efforts continue to be a challenge.

The fire, which started on Tuesday morning on the west side of the mountain in Trigo Canyon, has increased in size from a mere 10 acres to about 800 acres and was about 20 percent contained as of Friday morning. Arlene Perea of the Mountainair Ranger District said the fire made an active run to the east side of Osha Peak Wednesday night due to high winds from the passage of a cold front.

The cause of the fire has still not been determined.

Crews working the forest fire were able to better fight the blaze Thursday as cloudy conditions, cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity assisted firefighters in the containment efforts. Air tankers made numerous retardant drops, slowing the advance of the flames. A total of 44,000 gallons of retardant was dropped in front of the flames on Thursday.

Perea said as the fire continues to grow, firefighters have developed strategies to create fire breaks on the east side of the mountain before the flames can reach communities there. She said while the incident commander has not called for evacuations, residents in Tajique, Manzano and Torreon are advised to be prepared just in case.

"East Manzano residents are asked to be prepared in case the need for evacuations become necessary," Perea said. "Have important papers, pets, prescriptions and pictures readily available in case the need for evacuations arises."

The Valencia County Fire Chief said there are no structures on the west side of the mountain where the fire started that are threatened. He said while there are no local county firefighters on the mountain actively fighting the Trigo Fire, several units have been providing support on a daily basis for up to 15 hours per day.

"We've had two units up at the command post every day since the fire started on Tuesday," Eaton said. "On Tuesday, we had two units from Tomé-Adelino; on Wednesday, we had units from Tomé and Jarales; and on Thursday, we had Tomé and Los Chavez up there.

"What they did on the first day was provide water for the brush trucks," Eaton added. "On the second day, we provided dust abatement for where the helicopters were landing. Basically what that means is we were wetting down the area at Trigo Spring Trail — where the old JFK campground is."

Eaton said the major concern at the local level is the proximity of the fire to communication towers on Capilla Peak, which he says is about one to two miles north of the fire. He said if the fire reaches the towers, it could cause problems for local fire departments, law enforcement and rescue units to communicate.

"If it (the fire) continues in the fashion it has — in a northerly direction — it could get to that area," Eaton said. "We have other repeaters in the valley that could provide adequate communications, but when we go to the other towers, we have to bump from one tower to another, and we will have to shift from repeaters."

Eaton said while the weather has been cooperating with firefighting efforts, the temperatures and winds are expected to once again pick up over the weekend, which could affect containment.

Craig Cowie's New Mexico Type 2 Incident Management Team assumed command of the Trigo Fire. There are also six hotshot crews, one inmate work crew from Los Lunas, three Type 2 hand crews, five engines, three water tenders and two camp crews working the fire.

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