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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 24 May 2018 24 May 2018

Acres: 4600

Start Date: May 22, 2018
Cause: Under investigation
Location: NE of Eagle Peak Lookout, Gila NF
Containment: 0%
Fuels: Timber (litter, grass and understory)
Total personnel: 290

The Gila National Forest brought in Steve Millert’s Type 2 Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4 (SWIMT4) to assume command of the Buzzard Fire at 6:00 A.M. on Thursday, May 24. The SWIMT4 will carry forward the incident strategies and objectives developed by the Gila National Forest and Shilow Norton’s Type 3 team.

Eagle Peak Lookout initially spotted the Buzzard Fire, located 3 miles northeast of Eagle Peak Lookout, around 3:00 P.M. Tuesday May 22nd. The Type 2 team was called in Tuesday evening due to the complexity of the incident and the need to maintain span of control for the increasing number of responding resources. Additional resources are in route and will be arriving throughout the day.

Yesterday evening the fire crossed FR94 near the Continental Divide. Crews worked through the night to contain that portion of the fire. Work also began to protect Eagle Peak Lookout, located near the southern end of the fire. Today crews will continue work to contain the fire north of FR94. Resources will also begin developing strategies for the southern and eastern areas of the fire as it begins to burn into steep, inaccessible terrain.

While work is progressing to contain the fire, the dry fuels, dry and windy weather conditions, and remote rugged location of the fire, containment of the fire is not expected within the next 10 days.

Firefighters can expect warm temperatures and low humidity’s with gusty winds through the rest of the week with warmer and drier weather expected for the weekend.

Areas around the fire are closed for public safety and roadblocks have been set up by local law enforcement. There will be increased fire traffic on all area roads.

There will be smoke visible today throughout Catron County and also in Apache County in Eastern Arizona.

Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. Information on air quality and protecting your health can be found online at the New Mexico Department of Health website at https://nmtracking.org/fire.

Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5814/
For information on the Gila National Forest, please visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila .

Fire Information: (602) 529-5924 (8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M.)
Email: buzzardfireinfo2018@gmail.com