Fire

Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire Update

STATE FORESTRY News:

Situation: Extreme fire behavior has caused the Whitewater and Baldy Fires to combine, creating the Whitewater-Baldy Complex.

Evacuations of the Willow Creek and Mogollon are still in effect. 

Smoke from these fires is clearly visible from the Silver City area and is affecting much of the southern third of New Mexico. 

The fire has now come out of the Gila Wilderness and on to the Gila National Forest in the Willow Creek Subdivision, crossed State Road 159 at Silver Creek Divide and is working its way into Mineral Creek.

  • Incident Name: Whitewater-Baldy Complex
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Historic Fires Most Likely Occurred in Spring

By Collin Haffey

The Ecology Group at Bandelier National Monument has been monitoring tree growth on a weekly basis for more than 20 years.

Several trees located in Bandelier are ringed with dendrometer bands or dendrobands, for short.

A dendroband is a small ribbon of metal wrapped around the trunk of the tree and connected to a spring slide that moves as the tree grows and is measured by a Vernier scale. It’s basically a fancy ruler.

This scale enables us to measure a tree’s circumference down to a tenth of a millimeter.

The banded trees are located in three clusters that span the elevation range Read More

Police Out Score Firefighters Saturday

LAPD News:

Los Alamos Police Capt. Randy Foster hits a triple against Los Alamos Fire Department “pitcher” Jerry Adair during a softball competition at Overlook Park Saturday, that went down to the wire, before the police team prevailed 26-25 following nine hard fought innings. Photo by Shayna Whitaker

“Catcher” Connie Salazar of the Los Alamos Police Department throws a ball back to the pitcher while “Umpire” Deputy Fire Chief Justin Grider contemplates whether it was a ball or a strike. Fire Chief Troy Hughes is at first base. Photo by Shayna Whitaker Read More

Firefighters Promoted During Special Ceremony

During a special ceremony Monday at Fire Administration on East Road, three firefighters were promoted. From left, Battalion Chief Paul Grano will supervise the C Shift, Battalion Chief Kelly Sterna will oversee training and exercises related to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Newly promoted Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Trehern is a second generation firefighter. He worked in LANL’s Fire Protection Division for 13 years and has been with LAFD for 22 years. He will be in charge of operations and will supervise all three fire shifts at LAFD. His father, Jim Trehern, was the last fire chief Read More

Five LAFD Firefighters Promoted

The Los Alamos Fire Department held a special ceremony Friday at Station 3 in White Rock to honor five firefighters who were promoted earlier this month. Seated from right, Justin Grider promoted to deputy fire chief, Steven Dawald promoted to captain, Chris Bartlit promoted to captain, Dan Duval promoted to captain and Adrian Martinez promoted to driver engineer. Standing at right, Fire Chief Troy Hughes congratulated each firefighter. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More

LAFD Union Leader Honored


Capt. Flavio Martinez, left, is congratulated by Fire Chief Troy Hughes at his retirement ceremony Wednesday.
Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Fire Chief Troy Hughes, coworkers, family and friends honored longtime Los Alamos Firefighter and IAFF Local 3279 Union President Flavio Martinez at a gathering in Fire Administration Wednesday.

“Capt. Martinez was one of the first people I met with when I came here to see if this is where I wanted to work and I quickly recognized that he really only wanted the same things I did – a well-trained department, people treated fairly and people held Read More

Small Boy Earns Community Hero Award


Jonah Cruz Wheat, 5, and his sister pose with his certificate Friday at Fire Station 3
in White Rock. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com.

Jonah Cruz Wheat was just 4 years old on July 12 when he heard a woman cry out for help while he played in his yard.

Playing superheroes is one of his favorite pass times so when his mother heard him enter the house and ask his sister if she heard someone calling for help, she assumed they were just playing.

Amanda Wheat recounted hearing her son go back outside and yell, “Don’t worry … I’m coming … I’ll help you.” She grabbed her phone and ran outside where she saw her Read More