Silver Fire Burned Area Emergency
Response (BAER)
Community Update
BAER Information: Al Koss: 575 534-0011 (Daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Email: pioinfoal@gmail.com
 
Fire Facts:
Date Started: 06/07/2013
Number of BAER Implementation Personnel: 15
Cause: Lightning
Size:  44,600 acres
Percent Contained: 20%

A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has assembled in Silver City, New Mexico to assess post fire conditions from the Silver Fire.  A BAER Team rapidly assesses conditions in burned areas to determine emergency situations and recommend treatments to protect life, property, water quality, and natural and cultural resources on National Forest lands.  BAER is “first aid”—immediate stabilization that often begins before a fire is fully contained.  BAER does not seek to replace what is damaged by a fire, but rather to reduce further damage to forest lands that have had a loss of vegetation due to intensively burned areas.

The Silver Fire BAER Team is composed of a hydrologist, archeologist, wildlife biologist, engineers, soil scientists and recreation specialists.  These resource specialists will assess conditions, determine fire severity, and recommend actions to treat lands within the Silver Fire to reduce erosion and flooding effects.

“Our team has hit the ground running and are assessing conditions to recommend the best treatments to protect life and property” says, BAER Team Leader, Mike Natharius.

For further information on Silver Fire BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response), go to: Silver Fire Post Fire response in INCIWEB http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3433/or call Al Koss, Public Information Officer at (575) 534-0011.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: If you are planning to visit the Forest, Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are in effect. Additional closures are still are in effect in several areas; please go to the Gila National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/gila for current information or contact the Forest directly at 575-388-8201.