Signal Fire Information - 5/15/14 - 7:00 am - Public Meeting Announcement for Thursday
Acres: 5740

Start Date: May 11, 2014
Cause: Human

Location: 10 miles north of Silver City, NM

Containment: 25%

Fuels/Topography: Timber, grass/rugged terrain

Total personnel: 688

Thursday, May 15th a public meeting will be held at the Roundup Lodge, 91 Acklin Hill Rd, in San Lorenzo at 6 p.m. At the conclusion of this meeting a presentation will be offered to interested individuals who would like to learn how to use Google Earth to track wildfire progression now and for future incidents.

Yesterday's Actions: Strategy for the fire continues to be full suppression. Crews continued to improve and mop up the west flank, increasing the contained portion of the burn to 25%. Line construction along the north and east sides is ongoing in preparation for possible burnout operations as needed. On the southeast and south flanks, firefighters are building containment lines near the fire's edge. Structure protection personnel monitored fire line improvements near private structures on the south flank of the fire. Aircraft remain assigned to support firefighters by dropping retardant and water to assist ground forces with suppression activities.

Weather: Temperatures were warmer yesterday and expected to gradually increase through the weekend with lowered humidity each day into next week. Possible critical dry fire weather conditions are expected to enter the area starting tomorrow afternoon. The weekend looks to be setting up for critical fire conditions with a combination of unstable air mass, very low relative humidity, and increasing winds.

Silver City, Pinos Altos, Gila Cliff Dwellings and local special events are NOT being impacted by the Signal Fire.

State Highway 15 was reopened to the public at 8 AM this morning.

Smoke: The most significant smoke impacts from the Signal Fire will occur when morning inversion causes smoke to settle into valleys near the fire. Information on wildfire smoke and your health can be found on the New Mexico Department of Health's website at https://nmtracking.org/fire.

Information for this fire, including maps and photos, can be found at:
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3864/
http:nmfireinfo.com