As Fire Activity Decreases, Erosion Control and Seeding Work Continues
June 8, 2018 Daily Update
Acres: 40,303 Start Date: May 22, 2018
Cause: Human-caused Location: 10 miles NE of Reserve, NM (Gila NF)
Containment: 68% Fuels: Timber (litter, grass and understory)
Total Personnel: 513

General Information: At 6:00 a.m. Friday morning, June 8, 2018, the Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team took over management of the Buzzard Fire. Firefighters continue to patrol and secure fire lines providing opportunities for suppression repair and rehabilitation to occur. Erosion control and seeding of dozer and hand lines will continue.

Fire Operations: Active fire continues to back down off the west side of Eagle Peak. To reduce fire behavior and protect grazing allotments, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources on the west flank of the fire, crews began a firing operation Thursday afternoon. Using a combination of existing roads, dozer lines and hand lines, firefighters can reduce firefighter exposure and provide a high probability of success to secure the fire.

Fire Safety Awareness: Firefighter and public safety is a number one concern for the Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Team. Fire suppression repair work continues in areas where fire activity has decreased, and firefighters can work safely.

Fire Weather: A moister weather pattern will move into the area and may bring isolated showers and thundershowers over the mountains of southwest New Mexico. A few of these mostly dry storms may track over or near the fire bringing lightning and erratic winds. Warm temperatures and low relative humidity continue over the fire area. Winds are expected to be moderate with afternoon breezes.

Closures: The area around the fire will remain closed for public safety until lifted by the Gila National Forest. 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 . For more information on Stage 2 fire restrictions, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/gila/alerts-notices/?aid=46143 .

Smoke Situation: As the fire slowly backs through old burn scars toward containment lines, only moderate amounts of smoke are expected, causing minor impacts to the majority of populated areas. Ranches to the south and the down-drainage area near Reserve will continue to experience the late night and early morning impacts they have been receiving over the last 10 days. 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 . Smoke concentration data is available at: https://tools.airfire.org/monitoring/v4 .

Fire Information Links: Fire information can be found at http://nmfireinfo.com  and http://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 Office Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
InciWeb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5814 / Email: buzzardfireinfo2018@gmail.com