Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team
Ricky Cox—Incident Commander
Buzzard Fire

Control Line Construction Nearing Completion on Southwest Side of Buzzard Fire
June 12, 2018 Daily Update
Acres: 43,009 Start Date: May 22, 2018
Cause: Human-caused Location: 10 miles NE of Reserve, NM (Gila NF)
Containment: 69% Fuels: Timber (litter, grass and understory)
Total Personnel: 410

General Information: Firefighters are working diligently to complete control lines to tie together all control lines around the fire. Crews continue to monitor fire progression and conduct firing operations to secure control lines. Crews on the eastern portion of the fire are patrolling to look for remaining hot spots and secure control lines. Fire suppression repair and rehabilitation is ongoing.

Fire Operations: In the southwest portion of the fire, hand line construction between Piney Tank and Flattop Mesa, the preparation of Trail #768 as a control line, and dozer line construction along the North Fork of Negrito Creek are nearing completion. Firefighters continue to monitor the fire’s progression and conduct firing operations as needed on the dozer line along FR 4166E and lines along the North Fork of Negrito Creek . The Escondido Wildland Fire Module is collecting fire weather and fire effects data to provide fire crews with information to aid in suppression activities and tactics. Wildland fire engines are working with crews in the eastern side of the fire to help crews patrol and locate pockets of remaining heat. Suppression repair and rehabilitation work of seeding control lines is progressing and is nearly complete.

Fire Safety Awareness: Firefighter and public safety is a number one concern for the Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Team. Fire personnel and fire equipment are traveling between the Incident Command Post (fire camp) at Apache Creek Campground and the fire area using NM Hwy 12, please use caution when traveling in this area.

Fire Weather: Hot and dry conditions with light southwest winds continues through Tuesday. Relative humidity will again be in the single digits. Wednesday, moisture is expected to move in with a wind shift from the south to southeast which could trigger some showers and thundershowers. Some of these storms could bring dry lightning.

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 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/  

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.