Black Fire is Officially the Second Largest Wildfire in New Mexico History 

Addendum: In case readers wonder which held second largest fire in NM, prior to the Black Fire, it was the 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire, which burned more than 297,845 acres in the Gila National Forest.

Acres: 300,336 acres
Location: 31 miles NW of Truth or Consequences
Containment: 42%
Personnel: 947
Start Date: Friday, May 13, 2022
Cause: Human-caused, under investigation
Fuels: Timber and tall grass
Structures Lost: 5

Road Closure: NM 152 is currently closed, from mileposts 40 (Kingston) to milepost 15 (San Lorenzo). No entry will be allowed. A portion of the Gila National Forest affected by the fire has been closed.

To learn about the current evacuation status for the Black Fire, please access the real-time, interactive evacuation map. or contact your local jurisdiction's emergency management agencies.

The Black Fire is officially the second largest wildfire in New Mexico. Firefighters are conducting multiple tactics which include: chipping for suppression repair; scouting areas to build hand and bulldozer fire line; structure assessment and protection; burnout operations to remove fuels between the constructed fire lines and the main fire; and using aircraft for fire suppression efforts, aerial ignition, recon and monitoring as weather conditions allow. Thunderstorms are forecast again for tomorrow and then hot and dry weather conditions will return.

Firefighters responded to three lightning ignitions located south of Highway 152, one near Sawyer Peak the other two just south of Emory pass. The area designated within the temporary flight restriction will continue to be monitored for any new fire starts near the Black Fire.

There is a lot of fire traffic and firefighters working along the fire area, please be cautious if driving in these areas.

Weather: Scattered thunderstorms will form once again over the fire by the late morning and will continue into the evening. This is followed by another night of mostly terrain driven winds and decent relative humidity recoveries. Thunderstorm chances will continue into the weekend.

Aviation Restrictions: The Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) which restricts non-fire aircraft over the Black Fire has been expanded to the south and east. This includes civilian drones. Unauthorized aircraft in the area can ground firefighting aircraft, hinder firefighting efforts, and can also result in criminal charges for the offender.

Fire Restrictions: Know Before You Go! The public can obtain current state and federal fire restriction information across New Mexico at NM Fire Info | Fire Restrictions or at NM Forestry Division state-wide fire restrictions: https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/sfd/find-current-fire-restrictions/

More Information:
• InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8103/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GilaNForest
• New Mexico Fire information: https://nmfireinfo.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gilanforest
• New Mexico Road Information: www.nmroads.com/
• Smoke Outlook Report: https://outlooks.airfire.org/outlook/dde9ec52
• Sierra County: https://www.sierraco.org/department/emergency-management/
• Catron County: https://www.catroncounty.us/departments/fire_chief/
• Grant County: https://grantcountynm.gov/departments/emergency-management/
• Firewise: https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/sfd/fire-prevention-programs/firewise-usa/