Location: 12 miles south of Winston, NM, Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest

Start Date: June 29, 2019

Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: pinyon juniper mixed with grasses

Resources: two Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) crews, four Hot Shot crews, two FS engines, seven smokejumpers

Size: ~445 acres

Containment: 80%

Incident Commander: Matt Britt, ICT3, Colten Moor, ICT3(t)

Summary: The Wagonbed Fire, is burning on National Forest System Lands on the Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest, Sierra County, New Mexico. The strategy for this fire is full suppression. Mapping of the fire line has given a more accurate accounting of the acreage. Today’s operations include continuing to secure the perimeter. Over the next 3-4 days fire managers will start to release resources and transition to a Type 3 organization.

Smoke is visible from the town of Winston, Hermosa, and Truth or Consequences, NM. Smoke from fire rises up and away during the daytime, but in the evening can pool down in canyons, drainages, and basis. For information on air quality and protecting your health, and to find guidance on distances and visibility please visit https://nmtracking.org/fire. Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6406/.

For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/gila or join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Location: 12 miles south of Winston, NM, Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest

Start Date: June 29, 2019

Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: pinyon juniper mixed with grasses

Resources: two Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) crews, three Hot Shot crews, two FS engines, seven smokejumpers

Size: ~460 acres

Containment: 0%

Incident Commander: Matt Britt, ICT3, Colten Moor, ICT3(t)

Summary: The Wagonbed Fire, is burning on National Forest System Lands on the Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest, Sierra County, New Mexico. The strategy for this fire is full suppression. The fire received rain yesterday afternoon which has reduced fire movement and today’s operations include containing and securing the perimeter.

Smoke is visible from the town of Winston, Hermosa, and Truth or Consequences, NM. Smoke from fire rises up and away during the daytime, but in the evening can pool down in canyons, drainages, and basis. For information on air quality and protecting your health, and to find guidance on distances and visibility please visit https://nmtracking.org/fire. Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6406/.

For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GilaNForest/ or follow us on Twitter @GilaNForest.

Location: north of Hermosa, NM, Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest

Start Date: June 29, 2019

Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: pinyon juniper mixed with grasses

Resources: Type 2 Initial Attack (IA) crew, one Hot Shot crew, two engines, seven smokejumpers, four helitack crew

Size: ~322 acres

Containment: 0%

Incident Commander: Matt Britt, ICT3, Colten Moor, ICT3(t)

Summary: The Wagon Bed Fire, is burning on National Forest System Lands on the Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest, Sierra County, New Mexico. The strategy for this fire is full suppression.

Smoke is visible from the town of Winston, Hermosa and Truth or Consequences, NM. Smoke from fire rises up and away during the daytime, but in the evening can pool down in canyons, drainages, and basis. For information on air quality and protecting your health, and to find guidance on distances and visibility please visit https://nmtracking.org/fire. Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6406/.

For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GilaNForest/ or follow us on Twitter @GilaNForest.

Location: north of Hermosa, NM, Black Range Ranger District

Start Date: June 29, 2019

Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: pinyon juniper mixed with grasses

Resources: 50 people

Size: ~155 acres

Containment: 0%

Incident Commander: transitioning to Type 3

Summary: The Wagon Bed Fire, is burning on National Forest System Lands on the Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest, Sierra County, New Mexico. The strategy for this fire is to full suppression.

Smoke is visible from the town of Winston, Hermosa and Truth or Consequences, NM. Smoke from fire rises up and away during the daytime, but in the evening can pool down in canyons, drainages, and basis. For information on air quality and protecting your health, and to find guidance on distances and visibility please visit https://nmtracking.org/fire. Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and Inciweb at .

For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GilaNForest/ or follow us on Twitter @GilaNForest.

During prescribed fire operations, an area around the Mount Margaret Trail will be temporarily closed for public and firefighter safety.

Magic Feather Prescribed Burn Could Take Place This Spring

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Firefighters on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest are monitoring conditions to begin prescribed fire operations on the Magic Feather Prescribed Burn this spring to improve forest health. The wildfires of 2020 are a somber reminder of the importance of proactive fuels management and forest restoration.

This burn is located east and southeast of Red Feather Lakes. Burning operations this spring could include two units totaling 1,046 acres, located north of County Road 74E. Work has already taken place in the area to prepare for ignitions, including tree cutting around the perimeter. Aerial operations, including a drone, could be used during implementation.

Appropriate conditions must be met before ignition of prescribed burns can take place. Fire managers are carefully monitoring these conditions, including favorable weather forecast (temperature, wind, precipitation), fuel moisture, smoke dispersal and staffing. Weather is monitored throughout the burn and burning will be halted if conditions fall outside of the required conditions. In ideal conditions, as many as 500 acres could be burned in one day. Currently, snow will need to melt and fine fuels will need to dry some before burning could begin.

Residents and visitors in the area should expect to see smoke when operations are taking place. Temporary closures of the Mount Margaret Trail should be expected. Smoke may also impact those using the Dowdy Lake and West Lake campgrounds and day-use areas.

For those interested in hearing more about this project, a virtual public meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on May 20, 2021, with fire managers providing an overview of the project and time to answer questions.

To get added to the email notification list for when burning begins in this area, please send an email to reghan.cloudman@usda.gov with the subject line “Magic Feather.” Additional information may be found on InciWeb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6403/. Prescribed fire smoke may affect your health. More information about smoke impacts is available at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health.

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Incident Start Date: May 26, 2019 Cause: Lightning Size: 3,631 acres

Incident Type: Wildfire Vegetation Type: Pinyon-Juniper, Grass & Ponderosa Pine

Fire Strategy: Containment Percent Complete: 90%

Carrizozo, Ruidoso, Alamogordo NM. 7/04/2019 — The Lone Mountain Fire has been turned over to an engine crew from Lincoln National Forest and they will monitor and patrol the fire’s perimeter as needed.

After more than a month, the lightning-caused fire stands at 3,631 acres and 90% completion. While the fire is extremely unlikely to escape its current footprint, it will not be fully “out” until the area receives substantial rain.

Forest leadership has used this natural occurrence to reintroduce fire to a landscape that not only has adapted to live with fire but thrives with regular, low-intensity burns. With no structural, cultural or historic values directly in the fire’s path and complimentary weather, the decision was made to not only let the fire burn but put more fire on the ground to help contain any potential spread. The result is a mosaic of burned and unburned vegetation, which increases habitat diversity and breaks up continuous fuels on the forest floor (branches, fallen trees, etc.) which can help limit or slow the intensity and spread of large wildfires in the future.

The fire remains well within the established perimeter planning area between Forest Service Roads 976E and Road 483 (aka Coyote Canyon Road).

Incident Start Date: May 26, 2019 Cause: Lightning Size: 3,631 acres

Incident Type: Wildfire Vegetation Type: Pinyon-Juniper, Grass & Ponderosa Pine

Fire Strategy: Containment Percent Complete: 90%

Carrizozo, Ruidoso, Alamogordo NM. 7/03/2019 — Firefighters have completed their planned ignitions within the footprint of the Lone Mountain Fire and are stepping back to patrol and monitor the lines. Crews at Lone Mountain burned more than 400 acres yesterday to bring the final total acres to 3,631.

With most of the fire’s edge cold, assigned crews – one hand crew, one engine, one UAS team and one wildland fire module – will turn the fire over to the local resources of the Lincoln National Forest. While the fire is highly unlikely to see any growth, it will not be truly contained or “out” until the area receives substantial rain.

Forest leadership is using this natural occurrence to reintroduce fire to a landscape that not only has adapted to live with fire but thrives with regular, low-intensity burns. With no structural, cultural or historic values directly in the fire’s path and complimentary weather, the decision was made to not only let the fire burn but put more fire on the ground to help contain any potential spread. The result is a mosaic of burned and unburned vegetation, which increases habitat diversity and breaks up continuous fuels on the forest floor (branches, fallen trees, etc.) which can help limit or slow the intensity and spread of large wildfires in the future.

The fire remains well within the established perimeter planning area between Forest Service Roads 976E and Road 483 (aka Coyote Canyon Road).

Residents and visitors might see continued smoke from firing operations, especially during the warmer, drier afternoon and early evening hours. Smoke might be visible from White Oaks, Carrizozo, Capitan and Highway 54.

Incident Start Date: May 26, 2019 Cause: Lightning Size: 3,224 acres

Incident Type: Wildfire Vegetation Type: Pinyon-Juniper, Grass & Ponderosa Pine

Fire Strategy: Containment Percent Contained: 80%

Carrizozo, Ruidoso, Alamogordo NM. 7/02/2019 — Crew members blackened 650 acres within the footprint of the Lone Mountain Fire as they move toward completing work to help restore the landscape to a more natural state. Lone Mountain is a lightning-sparked fire that started May 26 and covers 3,224 acres northeast of Carrizozo.

Forest leadership is using this natural occurrence to reintroduce fire to a landscape that not only has adapted to live with fire but thrives with regular, low-intensity burns. With no structural, cultural or historic values directly in the fire’s path and complimentary weather, the decision was made to not only let the fire burn but put more fire on the ground to help contain any potential spread. The result is a mosaic of burned and unburned vegetation, which increases habitat diversity and breaks up continuous fuels on the forest floor (branches, fallen trees, etc.) which can help limit or slow the intensity and spread of large wildfires in the future.

Firefighters are nearing completion of burning operations and likely will turn the operations back to the staff of the Lincoln National Forest in the coming days as it falls into a monitoring and patrol status.

The fire remains well within the established perimeter planning area between Forest Service Roads 976E and Road 483 (aka Coyote Canyon Road).

Residents and visitors might see continued smoke from firing operations, especially during the warmer, drier afternoon and early evening hours. Smoke might be visible from White Oaks, Carrizozo, Capitan and Highway 54.

Incident Start Date: May 26, 2019 Cause: Lightning Size: 2,536 acres

Incident Type: Wildfire Vegetation Type: Pinyon-Juniper, Grass & Ponderosa Pine

Fire Strategy: Containment Percent Contained: 30%

Carrizozo, Ruidoso, Alamogordo NM. 7/01/2019 — Crews have completed work to blackline the perimeter of the Lone Mountain Fire – a lightning-ignited fire 14 miles northeast of Carrizozo – and acreage has increased to 2,536 acres with 30% containment.

Fire personnel worked for weeks to form a secure perimeter on this fire to allow it to help reduce dangerous fuel loads and restore a more natural landscape to the fire-adapted ecosystem. The 600-acre growth from the last reporting period represents a significant step towards reducing fuels and improving vegetation variety. The fire remains well within the established perimeter planning area between Forest Service Roads 976E and Road 483 (aka Coyote Canyon Road).

With the perimeter established and blackened by low-intensity fire, crews now can focus on taking fire to the interior portions of the fire’s footprint in the coming days.

Residents and visitors might see continued smoke from firing operations, especially during the warmer, drier afternoon and early evening hours. Smoke might be visible from White Oaks, Carrizozo, Capitan and Highway 54.

The Lone Mountain Fire is burning in an area with no structures or other values at risk. Naturally-ignited wildland fires play an important role in fire-adapted ecosystems by reducing dead wood accumulations to ash and releasing nutrients that stimulate new plant growth, and helping to regulate insect and disease levels. These fires also create a mosaic of burned and unburned vegetation, which increases habitat diversity and breaks up continuous fuels on the forest floor (branches, fallen trees, etc.) which can help limit or slow the intensity and spread of large wildfires in the future.