See map and smoke outlook at the bottom of this article.
Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team Incident Commander – Pete Valenzuela
Information Phone: 720 693-3527 Hours: 8 am-8pm
Acres: 29,073
Location: 40 miles west of Winston, NM
Containment: 0%
Personnel: 164
Start Date: May 18, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Timber, pinon/juniper and grass
Visibility over the fire decreased yesterday due to smoke and aerial operations were canceled. Cloud cover helped crews on the ground by cooling the fire area, reducing fire behavior, and making fuels more receptive to suppression tactics. Crews continue to patrol the fire perimeter, locating and extinguishing hot spots and documenting fire effects.
Today's focus is to begin cleanup and preparation, on Road 21, in the event of fire movement to the west. In the Gila Wilderness fire is moving south towards Indian Creek. Rock and sparse fuels are creating a natural barrier to fire spread. Lookouts on Yellow Mountain are monitoring fire movement in the area, ready to respond if necessary. The plan is to keep the fire on the east side of Indian Creek. Beaver Creek is in monitor status and the fire is tied in to the bluff above the creek. A module of firefighters trained to observe and document the effects of the fire on the landscape has been deployed into the area.
Weather: The next few days will begin sunny with clouds building towards the afternoon. A chance of thunderstorms is in the forecast over the fire area through Tuesday. A shift to northerly winds, yesterday, caused smoke to move into the Silver City area. This is expected to clear today as winds shift back to the west.
Aviation Restrictions: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is still in place over the Pass Fire. All non-fire aircraft are restricted. This includes civilian drones. Unauthorized aircraft in the area will ground firefighting aircraft, hindering firefighting efforts.
Closures: The Gila National Forest remains open. Visitors are encouraged to use extreme caution when driving near the fire area due to the presence of firefighters and equipment and the potential for decreased visibility due to the high volume of smoke.
Health: Some residents in the surrounding areas are beginning to experience breathing difficulties. With the increase in smoke, air quality has decreased in many areas. Please refer to www.airnow.gov for smoke conditions and recommendations for your area.
For More Information:
• Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmgnf-pass-fire Inciweb is the official site for fire
information. This site is secure and updated daily.
• New Mexico Fire Information: https://nmfireinfo.com/
• Air Quality: https://www.airnow.gov