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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 13 June 2019 13 June 2019

Location: southeast of Mangas Mountain, Quemado Ranger District, Catron County, NM
Start Date: June 6, 2019 Size: ~ 1051 Cause: Lightning Containment: 48%
Vegetation: Transitional moving up Mangas Mountain from piñon-juniper grasslands to ponderosa pine, and dry mixed conifer to wet mixed conifer with aspen.
Resources: One Type 3 helicopter, 2 IHC (Hotshot)crews, 1 Wildland Fire Module, 4 Type 6 engines, various overhead resources, 173 total personnel.
Incident Commander: Dave Gesser, IC2
Fire Activity: Fire activity increased Wednesday causing fire managers to respond with burn out operations between the established eastern control features and the fire to secure the eastern flank.

Summary:

The Elk fire is burning on National Forest System lands and a small portion of private land, approximately 23 miles southeast of Quemado, New Mexico. The fire is burning in remote and rugged terrain.

Dry weather and warmer temperatures increased fire activity Wednesday. This resulted in fire managers implementing helicopter aerial ignitions to burn an area of unburned fuel between the edge of the fire and the established north and eastern control features. The effect of this could be observed with increased smoke over the fire.

For Thursday, as conditions allow, crews will complete remaining ignitions between the fire’s edge and established control features on the south and patrol and monitor established lines.

Smoke will again be observed from the fire as interior fuels are consumed and ignitions are completed.

For information on air quality and protecting your health, and to find guidance on distances and visibility, please visit https://nmtracking.org/fire. Fire information can be found at nmfireinfo.com and Inciweb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6379/.

For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila