COUNTY News:
The Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team #3 assumed command of the Cerro Pelado Fire at 7 a.m. today.
Updated Forest Closures: Santa Fe, Carson and Cibola National Forests have implemented closures due to extreme fire danger effective 8 a.m. today, May 19.
N.M. 4 is open to local traffic only. Please drive carefully through the area as there are still fire crews in the area
Back-to-back Red Flag Fire Warning days begin at noon today due to high temperatures, strong winds and low relative humidity values.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Today will be a critical fire weather day with a Red Flag Warning in effect noon to 10 p.m. due to gusty winds and extremely low relative humidity. The Red Flag Warning will continue into Friday. High temperatures are expected near 80 degrees and west-southwest winds of 20 mph gusting to 40 mph. Fuels remain extremely dry with no relief in sight.
Fire Operations: Crews finished constructing handline on the north side of the fire near the communications towers on Los Griegos Mountain and Forest Road (FR) 271. Crews will establish hose lines to extinguish hot spots. On the northeast side of the fire, crews will continue to locate and extinguish areas of heat near Frijoles Canyon. Crews will continue to assess areas along N.M. 4 for suppression repairs. Crews continue to work in the rugged areas near Alamo and lower Peralta Canyons to locate and extinguish areas of heat that have been identified during infrared (IR) flights. Helicopters are available to assist the crews with water drops in these areas. Containment lines along the south and western side of the fire continue to hold and crews are working on chipping and removing unnecessary equipment.
Closures:
- Santa Fe National Forest Closure order: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/santafe/alerts-notices;
- Carson National Forest Closure order: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/carson/alerts-notices; and
- Cibola National Forest Closure order: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/cibola/alerts-notices.
Air Quality: Information on air quality is at New Mexico Department of Health Environmental Public Health Tracking: https://nmtracking.org/fire, and an interactive smoke map is available at https://fire.airnow.gov/.
Fire Restrictions: The Santa Fe, Carson and Cibola National Forests have implemented forest closures effective Thursday, May 19 at 8am. Stage II Fire Restrictions remain in effect for the Santa Fe National Forest, which prohibits all campfires and other hazardous activities. Due to ongoing fire threats, Sandoval County will not issue burn permits. Stage III Fire Restrictions are in effect for Pueblo de Cochiti and Los Alamos.
Temporary Flight Restriction: (TFR). There is a flight restriction over the fire area and drones also are prohibited. Temporary Flight Restrictions.