Fire Information: (575) 388-8300
Acres: 5,484 Fire Start Date: May 11, 2014 Cause: Human Location: 10 miles north of Silver City, NM
Containment: 85% Fuels/Topography: Timber, grass/rugged terrain
Total personnel: 472
Yesterday's Actions: Crews again were stationed along State highway 35 to address any potential spot fires that might arise. Mop up progressed and crews remained vigilant for any sources of heat that could compromise the line. By the end of the day, a fire line had been completed around the perimeter and crews created a 300 foot buffer inside that line.
Today's Actions: With the threat of a significant wind event lessened by revised weather forecast and the completion of a 300 foot buffer inside the fire line, crews are starting to be released from the Signal Fire to be available for other assignments. Enough crews will remain through Thursday to deal with initial attack of any flare ups or spot fires should one occur. Several crews will be prepositioned again along Highway 35 to provide initial attack in that area. Some crews will also patrol the fire perimeter to deal with any remaining hot spots. On Thursday at 8 p.m., management of the fire will be returned to the Gila National Forest Silver City Ranger District and a type 4 team will be assigned to complete remaining actions. A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has begun work on post fire rehabilitation of the burned area to stabilize areas of heavy fire impacts.
More accurate mapping of the Signal Fire resulted in a reduction of the estimated size of the burned area by about 250 acres.
Weather: Wind today over the fire area will peak with gusts near 30 MPH. Combined with single digit humidity, critical fire weather conditions continue. Moderating weather conditions after today will occur through the remainder of the week with gradual cooling and moistening. However, thunderstorms will possibly occur over the Gila Thursday and Friday with the chance of dry lightning in some areas.
Tomorrow's update, May 21, will be this incident management team's final update on this fire.
Information for this fire, including maps and photos, can be found at:
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3864/
http://nmfireinfo.com
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