Forest Service Photo: Aviation support on Six Mile Fire on the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands. May 14, 2026Crews continue containment efforts ahead of critical fire weather
Acres: 341
Start Date: May 8, 2026
Cause: Undetermined
Containment: 84%
Personnel: 172
Fuels: Short Grass, brush, oak and pinyon/juniper
Location: 12 miles SE of Magdalena, NM. See map attached.
Operations: Firefighters continued making steady progress yesterday toward increasing containment on the fire. Contingency line preparation along Forest Road 235 is nearly complete, while work along the 70 Trail also continued. Suppression repair operations have begun in areas no longer threatened by active fire behavior.
Resources will remain patrolling the fireline and monitoring by air. As fire activity decreases, firefighters have also started removing equipment and supplies from remote areas of the fire in preparation for the demobilization of crews who have been staged near the fireline.
Although containment continues to improve, firefighters remain prepared for elevated fire weather conditions forecast this weekend, including warmer temperatures, lower humidity, andincreased winds. A group of fire personnel will remain on the Magdalena Ranger District for initial attack during the weekend's elevated fire weather.
Weather: Today begins a three-day period of strong to very strong winds, which will be accompanied by critically dry conditions and very low relative humidity. This will bring Elevated to Near Critical fire weather conditions over the fire Saturday, and Critical conditions Sunday and Monday.
Closures: A closure order remains in effect for multiple roads and trails within the fire area. Refer to Cibola National Forest website for further details. https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/cibola/alerts.
Safety: The health and safety of firefighters and the public are always the top priority. Fire equipment and personnel will be operating on area road systems, and the public should remain aware of current and any upcoming area closures associated with suppression activities. Drones pose a serious risk to firefighting. The public is reminded that "If you fly, we can't!"
Additional Information:
Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmcif-six-mile-fire
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cibolanf
New Mexico Fire Info: https://nmfireinfo.com/
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