Evacuations a "go" east of the river; residents in "ready" status on west side

UPDATE: (8 p.m., Sunday, June 22)

The most recent update on the Cotton and Cotton 2 fires burning in the bosque puts the fire area at an estimated total of 260 acres.

• Evacuations in “GO” status on the EAST side of the Rio Grande are from Chughole Drive in Peralta, south to Main Street in Los Lunas.

• Evacuations in the “READY” status on the WEST side of the river are from Behnke Road to Los Lentes in Los Lunas, and everything south of Main Street in Los Lunas.

Damaged homes in the area are part of an active crime scene, and the public will not be admitted to those areas. An estimated 1,300 residents have been affected by these evacuations.

The two fires are now being managed by the New Mexico Forestry Division as one event called the Desert Willow Complex Fire.

Crews are still responding to the Cotton Fire, discovered at about 3:30 p.m., Saturday, June 21, and the Cotton 2 Fire, which was discovered today, at about 9:30 a.m., Sunday, June 22, across the river on the north side of the Main Street bridge in Los Lunas.

Today local, state and federal crews have been working with air resources to respond to these fires, which have impacted structures in the area.

Crews working the fire overnight made good progress in reinforcing fire lines and identifying hot spots. Helicopter water drops and fixed wing slurry drops provided retardant to the fire area.

Today, crews were engaged in suppression efforts along both sides of the river. Aerial support, including water drops, is ongoing over both fires.

County resources are still working on structure protection of homes affected by the fires to ensure embers from the new start do not affect more homes. Retardant will be used as needed for structural protection. The cause of the fires is under investigation.

So far, nine structures have been reported lost, four received major damage and one minor damage. An additional 36 structures have been affected either by smoke impacts or slurry drops over the area, according to the Valencia County Office of Emergency Management.

Those who have evacuated can go to the Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center on N.M. 314 in Los Lunas or the Peralta Community Center on N.M. 47, across from Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

The American Red Cross is at the Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center to assist displaced residents.

Large animals can be taken to the Sheriff’s Posse Arena in Belen or the Bosque Farms Rodeo Arena.

UPDATE: (3 p.m., Sunday, June 22)

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UPDATE: (10 a.m., Sunday, June 22)

While the Cotton Fire in Carson Park was kept within the fire lines last night, two more fires have started in the bosque to the north and fire personnel suspect they are intentional.

“We’ve had two new starts (in the bosque) this morning, which means we have an arsonist in the bosque starting fires,” said Valencia County Fire Chief Matt Propp Sunday morning.

Both fires are northeast of the Los Lunas river bridge, the chief said. When state forestry crews responded to the first fire just to the north of the bridge - which is at about 13 acres, they reported seeing another fire further to the north, Propp said.

“Law enforcement was dispatched to see if they can find anyone in the area,” the chief said. “These fires (the Cotton, Kid and two new fires) are all human caused. At this time, the state fire marshall and state police are out investigating the Cotton Fire and law enforcement is in the area trying to locate suspects.”

If anyone has information about the cause of any of the recent fires, call the nonemergency dispatch line at 505-865-9130.

A wildfire that started in the bosque south of the Main Street river bridge in Los Lunas has moved into the Carson Park neighborhood, destroying at least a dozen homes so far.

The Valencia County Fire Department has issued an evacuation order for the Carson Park area, directing residents to go to the Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center on N.M. 314.

Named the Cotton Fire, the blaze began just before 3:30 p.m. on the west side of the Rio Grande on Saturday, June 21. The fire is estimated at 150 acres and was reported at zero percent containment four hours later.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m., according to an update on the VCFD Facebook page, fire crews have cut containment lines with a dozer and helicopter drops of fire suppressing slurry have helped stop the forward progress of the fire.

Multiple homes were burned in the area of Las Rosas Drive in Carson Park. Structural triage was performed and crews were able to protect many other homes.

"At this time we have reports of 12 homes lost," the post reported.

According to reporting by the Albuquerque Journal, Valencia County Fire Chief Matt Propp said the Cotton Fire had consumed "half a block" worth of homes on Las Rosas Road, which butts up against the west side of the river, south of the Main Street bridge.

Propp said 12 firefighters were treated for "smoke and heat injuries" and at least two were sent to a hospital in Albuquerque.

George Ducker, New Mexico State Forestry spokesman, said there were 100 structures threatened by the blaze as of Saturday evening.

"The wind conditions were erratic, so our fire behavior has been pretty uncontrollable in the bosque. At this point... we're starting to actually be able to engage the fire," Propp said around 6:30 p.m.

He said they were having an air tanker — an aircraft often used on remote wildfires — flown out for slurry drops to help extinguish the flames and protect homes. Propp warned people to stay away from the area as the slurry drops can cause injury.

In a recent press release, Ducker reported the fire is also being fought by air with a type-1 helicopter making target drops over the fire area. The cause of the Cotton Fire is under investigation.

He said the fire is believed to be human-caused and there had been reports of a person seen fleeing the area where the fire was believed to be set.

"There's no other factor in the area, the question is only going to be whether it was intentional or unintentional," Propp told the Journal. "We have an arson task force that's being formed between local resources and the State Fire Marshal's office, and they'll be investigating once we can start to get things under control."

He asked that the public stay out of the area as some people were "getting in the way" and stalling firefighting efforts. Several agencies, including Albuquerque Fire Rescue and Bernalillo County Fire Rescue and the Rio Communities Fire Department were assisting.

Over social media, videos showed large plumes of smoke rising from the Carson Park area of Los Lunas, with flames seen leaping off the roofs of several homes.

Los Lunas councilor Gino Romero shared images of the destructive power of the Cotton Fire, which he called “devastating,” from the Carson Park neighborhood showing at least three homes have been destroyed.

Romero wrote that food, shelter and pet services are available at the Daniel Fernandez Recreation Center on N.M. 314, which has been opened as an evacuation center for residents. The village will activate more resources if the need arises, the councilor posted.

On its Facebook page, Valencia County Animal Services offered residents of Carson Park a place for their animals. Residents in need can call the animal shelter at 505-866-2479 or message staff through their Facebook page.

According to PNM’s online outage map, power in the area has been interrupted at the request of emergency personnel fighting the fire.

Individuals sensitive to wildfire smoke should take precautions and use the New Mexico Department of Health 5-3-1 Visibility Method to determine if it’s safe to be outside.

Learn more at https://nmtracking.doh.nm.gov/environment/air/FireAndSmoke.html

An interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/ allows you to zoom into your area to see the latest smoke conditions.