Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team
Ricky Cox—Incident Commander
Buzzard Fire

Firefighters Face Warmer and Drier Weather on Sunday
June 17, 2018 Daily Update
Acres: 47,370 Start Date: May 22, 2018
Cause: Human-caused Location: 10 miles NE of Reserve, NM (Gila NF)
Containment: 74% Fuels: Timber (litter, grass and understory)
Total Personnel: 254
General Information: Light showers, increased humidity and cooler temperatures put a damper on the fire Saturday. Although the fire area received over half an inch of rain, the fire continues to creep and smolder in drainages containing stands of pine trees. Sunday will see a return to warmer and drier weather as the remnants of Tropical Storm Bud move to the east. Firefighters will continue to mop up along control lines and continue with suppression repair and rehabilitation on control lines where the fire no longer poses a threat. With decreased fire activity, crews, equipment, and personnel are being released from the incident to travel home or be reassigned to other fires.

Fire Operations: Seeding, water bar construction, and pulling logs and brush over dozer lines are complete on the northern sections of the fire. An Excavator and a rubber-tired skidder continue to construct water bars and pull material over control lines to aid in revegetation on the southeast portion. Crews will patrol and monitor the fire’s edge on the southwestern side for hot spots. Resource Advisors will be present to guide crews as they begin repair and rehabilitation on hand and dozer constructed control lines. Equipment such as portable water tanks, hose, and water pumps are being returned to fire camp. Initial Attack crews are prepared to respond to new fires that may pop up from lightning strikes from last week.

Fire Safety Awareness: Stage 2 Fire Restrictions remain in place even though the forest has received rain. Rain has been spotty and not consistent over the forest to warrant lifting fire restrictions. Fire Danger is still rated as EXTREME on the Gila National Forest.

Fire Weather: Sunday, a southwest flow pattern will return, bringing warmer and drier conditions through the rest of the week. Today winds will be from the southwest, 10-15 miles per hour. Temperatures to reach the 70’s with relative humidity bit higher than normal for this time of year.

Closures: The area around the fire remains closed for public safety until lifted by the Gila National Forest. Roadblocks have been set up by local law enforcement. In support of this closure, the Continental Divide Trail has been rerouted around the fire closures. The trail reroute map is available at https://bit.ly/2GRESFw . More closure information is available at https://bit.ly/2LvwKhN . For information on Stage 2 Fire Restrictions, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/gila/alerts-notices/?aid=46143 .

Smoke Situation: As fire activity decreases, air quality continues to improve throughout the area. For more information on air quality and health impacts due to wildfire smoke, please visit the New Mexico Department of Health website at https://nmtracking.org/fire . Smoke concentration data is available at: https://tools.airfire.org/monitoring/v4 .

Fire Information Links: Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5814 /. For information on the Gila National Forest, please visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila .

Fire Information: (602) 529-5924 Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
InciWeb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5814/  Email: buzzardfireinfo2018@gmail.com