Single Publication

Containment lines hold on the Ridge Fire  

Daily Update – Monday, July 15, 2024

Acres: 3,198                                                                            
Start Date: 7/4/2024
Location: 19 miles east of Glenwood, NM                                
Personnel: 351
Containment: 9%                                                                   
Fuels: Timber, grass, understory

Highlights: Containment efforts continue along the western edge of the fireline to protect values at risk, including the Willow Creek community. Firefighters observed a slight increase in fire activity as temperatures increased, however, containment lines held any fire spread toward the community.

Operations: Yesterday morning, fire managers completed an aerial reconnaissance flight to record observations of fire movement and behavior. Minimal fire activity and low intensity backing fire was detected during the flight. Along the eastern edge, fire spread has been backing downslope and creeping along the ground with low flames. These fire conditions are favorable because the fire is cleaning up dead and downed ground litter which helps prevent high intensity burning. Narrow bands of fire moved down Gilita Canyon, backing down through the brush and lighter fuels such as grasses. On the southeast corner, some fire moved toward Iron Creek, slowly flanking across the forest floor. Crews completed strategic firing operations near the Iron Creek drainage by slowly backing fire down Trail #151. Backfiring downslope is a wildland firefighting strategy used to allow firefighters more control over the intensity of the fire. Firefighters continued to cut hazard trees and install water bars on handlines to prevent potential erosion with the incoming rains forecasted later this week. Crews have successfully held the fireline on the northwestern corner with no issues or spread across the containment lines. Crews working on structure protection continued to operate the road grader and water tender along Forest Road 159 to improve road conditions. Operations for today include increasing containment measures up the canyon to Gilita Creek, holding the fireline on the western perimeter, and assessing fire activity on the southwestern and northwestern edges of the fire. Crews are also working with Resource Advisors to determine any suppression repair needs and aim to complete the roadwork on Forest Road 159. 

Weather: Unseasonably warm temperatures will continue to persist across the fire today. Relative humidity should be slightly higher today as moisture will begin to increase across the area on Monday, with scattered showers and thunderstorms expected in the afternoon and evening to the south and west of the fire. Showers and thunderstorms will become more numerous Tuesday through Friday as monsoonal moisture returns.

Smoke: Smoke may be visible from Mogollon, Willow Creek, and Snow Lake. An interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/ allows you to zoom into your area to see the latest smoke conditions. Smoke monitors are in place at the Glenwood Ranger Station, Cliff, and Gila Cliff Dwellings.

Closures: The Gila National Forest has issued an emergency temporary closure of trails and trail segments for the Ridge Fire. The purpose of the closure order is for the protection of firefighters and public health and safety during emergency wildfire suppression activities occurring in and around the trails. The full closure order (No. 03-06-05-24-002) and map are available on the Gila National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/gila.

Safety: The health and safety of firefighters and the public are always the first priority. A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place over the area, which includes uncrewed aircraft or drones. Flying drones near wildfires is dangerous for pilots and firefighters and can bring wildfire suppression efforts to a halt. Know before you fly. If you fly, we can’t. More information on the dangers drones pose to wildland firefighting aircraft and personnel on the ground can be found at: https://uas.nifc.gov/.

More Information: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmgnf-ridge-fire / 

575-323-8994 / https://www.facebook.com/GilaNForest / 2024.ridge@firenet.gov