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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 15 June 2019 15 June 2019

Location: southeast of Mangas Mountain, Quemado Ranger District, Catron County, NM
Start Date: June 6, 2019 Size: ~ 1180 Cause: Lightning Containment: 48%
Vegetation: Transitional, moving up Mangas Mountain from piñon-juniper grasslands through ponderosa pine, into dry mixed conifer, and finally to wet mixed conifer and aspen.
Resources: One Type 3 helicopter, 2 IHC (Hotshot)crews, 1 Wildland Fire Module, 4 Type 6 engines, various overhead resources, 188 total personnel.
Incident Commander: Dave Gesser, IC2

Summary:

The Elk fire is burning on National Forest System lands and a small portion of private land, approximately 23 miles southeast of Quemado, New Mexico. The fire is burning in remote and rugged terrain.

Fire managers and fire fighters were challenged yesterday by high gusty winds, single digit humidity, and high temperatures. Unable to aggressively implement strategies to bring the fire to additional containment in the adverse weather, firefighters spent the day patrolling, securing fire lines and monitoring for potential spot fires generated by the high winds.

Incident Meteorologist Carl Cerniglia, has forecasted reduced winds for today and improved relative humidity. These improved conditions may allow fire managers to implement more aggressive tactics with the goal of bringing additional containment to the fire.

This will be the final update for the Elk Fire from the Incident Management Team. The Gila National Forest will provide additional information if significant activity occurs. Incident Commander Dave Gesser, on behalf of his entire team, would like to extend sincere thanks for the cooperation, patience, and gracious welcome we experienced in your communities while assigned to this wildfire. This team will remain in place until conditions of the fire allow transition to a lower complexity management level.

Current Elk Fire information will be posted at http://nmfireinfo.com  and Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6379/ .

For information on air quality and protecting your health, and to find guidance on distances and visibility, please visit https://nmtracking.org/fire .

For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila .

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