Silver City, NM; June 29, 2016

Over the past 24 hours there have been two new fires reported. The Pueblo fire was 7 miles north of Alma, one tenth of an acre, and has been contained. The Heifer fire is 6 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Hwy 180 and NM Hwy 12 and is also one tenth of an acre. Both fires were caused by lightning.

Thunderstorms have been less widespread over the past couple of days, however the dew point and relative humidity has remained sufficiently high to minimize fire behavior.

The Gila National Forest has several other fires that are managed for multiple objectives and not being actively suppressed. Only the 20 acre Burnt Fire 9 miles east of Upper Black Canyon Campground, the 6,885 acre Turkey Fire 8 miles west of the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, and the 113 acre Miller Fire 9 miles of Luna are showing any smoke. These fires are all being managed to reduce hazardous fuels to reduce the severity of future wildfires as well as to improve overall forest health.

Smoke from the Miller Fire has been visible from U.S. Hwy 60 between Springerville AZ and Quemado NM. The fire is not putting up a prominent column however is rising enough to be seen from a distance. Forest managers have identified an area in which to confine this fire. A 10-person suppression module is on site and managing the fire to contain it within the prescribed management area boundary.

Weather forecasts call for increasing thunderstorms including increases in both dew point and relative humidity. Fire managers anticipate additional fire starts from lighting, however do not anticipate fire growth from any new start.