NMHS News:

Sunday afternoon, May 25, firefighters and air support responded to the Camp Fire within the Fort Stanton area. The area affected by the fire is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area) and the State of New Mexico, Department of Cultural Affairs (Fort Stanton Historic Site).

There have been no reports of injuries to staff or the fire crew. Damage to historic structures in the German Internment Camp area of the site is still being assessed, but two wooden structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s were destroyed by the fire. The ruins of a gymnasium built in 1944 by German internees and the pool structure suffered from smoke damage. A guardhouse suffered minor damage.

A fire line drawn to the northwest of Rio Bonito prevented the fire from spreading to the historic fort grounds. We extend our gratitude to the Lincoln County Office of Emergency Services, State Forestry, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forestry, and the roughly 150 firefighters and air crews for their quick and tireless work to protect the site.

While the fire is still not fully contained and its cause is under investigation, critical updates can be found on the interagency website nmfireinfo.com.

Fort Stanton Historic Site is normally closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It is currently being used as a staging site for emergency response teams, but will reopen, if safe to do so, Thursday, May 29. Updates will be posted on nmhistoricsites.org/.