Goose Fire Update
Wednesday July 23, 2025
Reported date: July 9,2025 Containment: 22% Cause: Lightning/Natural Size: 3060 acres
Personnel: 195 Fuels: Timber, Brush Strategy: Full Suppression
Fire behavior: Creeping, Smoldering
Operations: Yesterday, the fire area received over an inch of rain, prompting firefighters to disengage in the afternoon due to hazardous conditions, including lightning and thunderstorms. However, crews were able to make progress in the morning, continuing to secure Goose Lake Trail #238 and Forest Road 282. A reconnaissance flight was conducted over the western perimeter, allowing fire managers to assess conditions and increase containment to 22%.
Today, overhead personnel will evaluate the fire perimeter following yesterday’s significant rainfall to determine the most effective strategy for applying direct and indirect tactics based on current fire behavior and activity. Crews will continue preparing the eastern control line as a contingency, with warmer and drier conditions expected to return later this week and likely leading to increased fire activity.
Message from Incident Commander Lino Baca, Albuquerque Zone Type 3 Team: “Due to heavy precipitation over the fire, we are assessing the most effective and safe strategy for firefighters to continue adding containment.”
Weather: Heavy rain fell across the fire area again on Tuesday. Expect another chance of storms Wednesday, but more scattered than what we saw earlier in the week. Heavy rainfall, lightning and gusty, erratic outflow winds will accompany these storms. Temperatures will top out near 80 with relative humidity values near 35% by afternoon.
Location: 18 miles NW of Silver City, NM on the Gila National Forest. It is located east of Seep Springs, south of the Gila River and west of Sheep's Corral Canyon.
Safety: The health and safety of firefighters and the public are always the top priority. Members of the public should avoid the Goose Fire. A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) went into effect on July 20th. Please visit www.tfr.faa.gov for information specific to the Goose Fire. Unmanned aircraft such as drones pose a serious risk to firefighting and can cause air operations to cease. The public is reminded that “If you fly, we can’t!”
Closures: Visit http://fs.usda.gov/r03/gila/alerts/goose-fire-area-closure for fire area closures along the 282 and 876 Forest Service roads. Visitors to the Gila Wilderness should be aware that the fire is burning near Goose Lake Trail #238, Monument Ridge Trail #254, and Packsaddle Trail #732.
Smoke: Smoke may be more visible due to increased fire activity. For individuals sensitive to smoke please visit https://fire.airnow.gov/.
Public Information:
Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmgnf-goose-fire
