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Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team TEAM 4 – Andrew Mandell – Incident Commander

Crews make significant containment gains on the Trout Fire

Daily Update for June 27, 2025

Fire Information Phone: 575-323-8964 (8 am – 8 pm)

Acres: 47,128                Start Date: June 12, 2025             Location: 12 miles north of Silver City, NM

Cause: Lightning           Personnel: 971             Fuels: Grass, brush, and timber              Containment: 69%

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

Sheriff Raul Villanueva at left, recognizes Armando Medina, second from right, as he retires from the Sheriff's Department.

Grant County Commissioners present the Fair Housing Month proclamation.

Article by Michael LaReaux

After the Pledge of Allegiance and the salute to the New Mexico state flag, the Grant County Commission at its April 1,2025 regular meeting opened the floor for public comment.

You can find several articles online that tell you what to do and what not to do if you encounter a bear. Bears are large and very strong. 

Dos and don'ts include:

1) Stay Calm, Back away slowly to show you are not a threat, speak calmly

2) Do not make quick movements, but move slowly, keeping an eye on the bear

3) Do not climb a tree, because they can climb faster than you

4) If you are hiking, talk loudly and make noise. That may scare any bears away.

But enjoy this video, edited by Jessie Britton of a backyard bear at a house in the wildland urban interface.

Silver City, NM, June 26, 2025—In anticipation of expected increased runoff from the Trout Fire, Forest Service crews and equipment from the Gila and Lincoln National Forests are cleaning out two sediment retention dams in Hill Canyon and one structure on Sapillo Creek. In addition, crews and equipment from Freeport-McMoRan are cleaning sediment from behind a retention dam in Skates Canyon within the Gila National Forest.

ROAD CLOSURES:

CLOSURE- Silver City, Pinos Altos, Lake Roberts Area

Closure, NM 15 northbound and southbound from mile marker 7, Pinos Altos to mile marker 25, 14 miles south of Gila Hot Springs. Closed due to a forest fire clean up.

Closure, NM 35 Closures removed.

Southwest Area ComplexIncident Management Team TEAM 4 – Andrew Mandell – Incident Commander

Evacuations reduced as fire threat lessens

Daily Update for June 26, 2025Fire Information Phone: 575-323-8964 (8 am – 8 pm)

Acres: 47,121                             Start Date: June 12, 2025                        Location: 12 miles north of Silver City, NM

Cause: Lightning          Personnel: 1,083          Fuels: Grass, brush, and timber         Containment: 41% 

Highlights: As fire activity slows on the Trout Fire, the incident management is right-sizing the response. Personnel are beginning to demobilize in preparation for the current incident management team close-out early next week. This strategic adjustment ensures that staffing levels match operational needs of the incident while maintaining the capability to respond should conditions change.

Closure lifted on National Forest System lands north and east of Highway 35

Silver City, NM, June 25, 2025—The Gila National Forest has adjusted the Trout Fire area closure. The updated closure reopens National Forest System lands north and east of New Mexico Highway 35 to public access.

New Mexico Highway 15 remains closed from just south of Ben Lilly to the Highway 15/35 intersection.

An area closure for public safety remains in effect that includes all National Forest System lands south and west of New Mexico Highway 35 and east of New Mexico Highway 15 to the southern forest boundary, as well as lands west of New Mexico Highway 15, located south of Spring Creek Trail #247, east of Sheep Corral Trail #231, Forest Road 4083V, Tadpole Ridge Trail #232 and Sycamore Canyon Trail #234, and north of Bear Creek from below Preacher’s Point to Forest Road 506 below Ben Lilly Memorial. 

SILVER CITY, NM – The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents met virtually on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Present at the meeting were Regents Steven Neville, John V. Wertheim, J. Dean Reed and Keana Huerta.

The meeting began with Chair Neville inviting Provost and Acting President Dr. Jack Crocker to give a report. Crocker ceded some of his time to Chief Information Officer Michael Acosta, who updated the regents on the efforts to recover from the cyber incident. Acosta noted that desktop computers were being rebuilt and that voicemail would be available soon.