Acres: 16,696
Start Date: May 22, 2018
Cause: Under investigation
Location: NE of Eagle Peak Lookout, Gila NF
Containment: 14%
Fuels: Timber (litter, grass, and understory)
Total personnel: 451

The Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4 will host a community meeting for the Buzzard Fire at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday, May 29, 2018, at the Community Center in Reserve.

General Information: Firefighters on the Buzzard Fire were able to secure more firelines yesterday and last night, and the fire is now 14% contained. Firefighters are coordinating with fuels specialists to determine the most effective firefighting approach based on vegetation type, density, and other factors. Due to successful firefighting efforts, tonight will be the final night operations shift. A fire investigation team has arrived on the incident to investigate the origin on the fire.

Fire Operations: Crews are making good progress with fire containment along the northern portion of the fire. Yesterday, crews were successful with their burnout along the constructed line through Deep Canyon. This action has secured the northwest portion of the fire, allowing the crews to continuing securing fireline going south along the western perimeter of the fire toward Eagle Peak. Crews have completed fireline on the southeastern portion of the fire, connecting Cox Canyon and Black Burro Canyon. These crews will burnout this fireline as necessary to keep up with the main fire as it continues to back into the wind and down into these canyons. The northeastern portion of the fire continues to burn toward Sawmill Canyon, with most of the fire activity following the upper elevation along the Long Canyon Mountains. Fireline has been constructed along FR 3074 in Sawmill Canyon. Firefighters are developing plans to determine the best course of action in this area, including potentially burning out along the FR 3074 road.

Fire Safety Awareness: It continues to be extremely dry all over the southwest region, and visitors and residents should use extreme caution in their use of fire or machinery. In the vicinity of the Buzzard Fire, people should remain alert for heavy fire traffic as equipment and personnel will be travelling the roadways. Drivers should not stop along the roadside to observe helicopters, smoke plumes, or other fire-related activities. For information on current fire restrictions, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/gila/alerts-notices/?aid=46143.

Fire Weather: High temperatures and low humidity with gusty afternoon winds are anticipated the rest of the week, which will likely result in extreme fire conditions.

Closures: The area around the fire is closed for public safety. Roadblocks have been set up by local law enforcement. In support of this closure, the Continental Divide Trail has been rerouted around the fire closures. The trail reroute map is available at https://bit.ly/2GRESFw. More closure information is available at https://bit.ly/2LvwKhN .

Smoke Situation: The smoke plume will drift more easterly today, leading to smoke impacts along NM Route 12 and US 60 possibly all the way to I-25. Visibility along the roads may be decreased, especially in the morning and evening hours. Reserve will experience early morning drainage smoke, clearing mid-morning. Although levels are not expected to be high, smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. For more information on air quality and health impacts due to wildfire smoke, please visit the New Mexico Department of Health website at https://nmtracking.org/fire .

Fire Information Links: Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and 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