Grant County NM Front Page News

Pass Fire Daily Update June 7, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 07 June 2023 07 June 2023

See map and reports of smoke and activities in Spanish at the bottom.

Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team Incident Commander – Pete Valenzuela
Information Phone: 720 693-3527 Hours: 8 am-8pm Email: 2023.Pass@Firenet.gov

Acres: 46,293
Location: 40 miles west of Winston, NM
Containment: 13%
Personnel: 125
Start Date: May 18, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Timber, pinon/juniper and grass

Much of the Pass Fire has moved into monitoring status. Patrols, lookouts, helicopters, and drones are being used to observe the fire's progression. One area of concern is the Indian Creek drainage adjacent to the fireline. As the fire progressed to Indian Creek, it moved into the rocks and ran out of fuel but firefighters want to verify that it is holding. A drone was deployed to check that area again yesterday. The flight confirmed no further fire progression. Additional recon flights are scheduled for today to monitor movement and determine the location of hot spots.

GRMC Governing Board held regular meeting May 25, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 06 June 2023 06 June 2023

Photo and article by Mary Alice Murphy

Presenting and receiving awards, from left in front, are award recipient Richard Vasquez, presenter GRMC Governing Board Chair Alicia Edwards, award recipient Jeremy Sanchez, Interim CNO Cynthia Lewis and Risk Management/ Compliance Officer Denice Baird; and in back, GRMC Governing Board Member Chris Ponce, GRMC CFO Patrick Banks, Member Billy Billings, Interim CEO Margie Molitor, and Members Eloy Medina and Harry Browne.

Gila Regional Medical Center Governing Board Chair Alicia Edwards noted at the beginning of the May 25, 2023 meeting that the agenda had changed, and the executive session, instead of being near the beginning of the meeting, would be toward the end of the meeting.

She announced several recognitions. They included Sonia Uresti for five years of service in Data Access; Mikayla Lopez for five years in the Emergency Room, and Cynthia Cruz for 10 years of service in Cardiology. Two other recognized individuals were present to receive their awards, Jeremy Sanchez for five years of service in Security and Richard Vasquez for five years of service in Facilities.

Pass Fire Daily Update June 6, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 06 June 2023 06 June 2023

Please see map and smoke outlook at the bottom of this article

Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team Incident Commander – Pete Valenzuela
Information Phone: 720 693-3527 Hours: 8 am-8pm Email: 2023.Pass@Firenet.gov

Acres: 45,043
Location: 40 miles west of Winston, NM Containment: 15%
Personnel: 139
Start Date: May 18, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Timber, pinon/juniper and grass

The last two miles of chipping has been completed along Hwy 59. Crews have been chipping fuels that had been cut while preparing for the burnout operations. Fire crews are patrolling and extinguishing hot spots as necessary. A crew hiked into the area and an Infrared flight (IR) was flown along Indian Creek. It was determined that fire is holding on the east side as intended. An afternoon reconnaissance flight found moderate fire behavior in pine stringers leading south toward the Middle Fork Gila River. The wide river bottom and sparse vegetation are expected to be an effective barrier to further fire spread. Containment percentage will continue to fluctuate as the fire spreads southward within the planning area. However, containment line will continue to hold. Today's focus is to carry on with scouting, assessing, and implementing protection measures to keep fire from impacting private lands and values at risk on the east side of the fire where areas ignited during firing operations are slowly burning together. The Gila Las Cruces Zone Type 3 Incident Command Team is working towards turning over the fire to a type 4 team later this week as the complexity decreases.

Pass Fire Daily Update June 5, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 05 June 2023 05 June 2023

See map, Spanish version and smoke outlook at bottom of this article.

Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team Incident Commander – Pete Valenzuela
Information Phone: 720 693-3527 Hours: 8 am-8pm Email: 2023.Pass@Firenet.gov

Acres: 42,665
Location: 40 miles west of Winston
NM Containment: 18%
Personnel: 141
Start Date: May 18, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Timber, pinon/juniper and grass

The last piece of the Road 21 preparation was completed yesterday after firefighters finished clearing brush around structures on private land. The 21 Road is now cleared to Snow Lake essentially widening the contingency fireline. A lot of slash was piled along the 59 Rd. after a similar operation. Crews have been chipping that debris and returning the biomass to the forest. Fire crews are patrolling and extinguishing hot spots along the contained fireline as necessary. Several small firing operations were conducted to better tie in the line and provide a buffer for private properties.

Anything-But-a-Car-Show 060423

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 04 June 2023 04 June 2023

Photos by Mary Alice Murphy

According to Tighe Burg, co-owner of Recreation Works in Bayard, who organized what she hopes will become an annual event, 50 entries had signed up to participate in the Anything-But-a-Car Show. They included a few bicycles, several motorcycles, a lot of ATVs, and a couple of custom off-road vehicles.

Not only vehicles took part, but several food vendors had food for sale. They included The Mint Chip, where this photographer was so busy buying an ice cream, she forgot to take a photo of the light green Mint Chip Truck. Other vendors had jewelry and Made in Mexico items including chili powder and ceramic items from The Pink Store in downtown Silver City. A couple of booths gave out information, including The Christian Motorcyclists Association, a worldwide organization supporting Christian riders.

And music by DJ Define filled the air and brought out some boys to dance to the beat.

Pass Fire Daily Update June 4, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 04 June 2023 04 June 2023

See update in Spanish, as well as the map and smoke outlook in PDF formats at the bottom of this article.

Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team Incident Commander – Pete Valenzuela

Information Phone: 720 693-3527 Hours: 8 am-8pm Email: 2023.Pass@Firenet.gov

Acres: 42,703
Location: 40 miles west of Winston, NM
Containment: 13%
Personnel: 158
Start Date: May 18, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Timber, pinon/juniper and grass

Yesterday, firefighters worked to thin vegetation along the 21 Road west of the fire perimeter. In the event that fire moves to the west, this will improve the ability of firefighters to hold fire at the road. Fireline supervisors are working with property owners in the same area to thin vegetation to make the properties more resilient to fire.

Grant County Commission held special meeting May 23, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 03 June 2023 03 June 2023

By Mary Alice Murphy

Gila National Forest Fire Management Officer Gabriel Holguin presented the forest service weather outlook for the upcoming fire season at the Grant County Commission special meeting on May 23, 2023.

"We are well above average in precipitation for the entire year to date," Holguin reported. "This fire season is very different from last year. We were already seeing significant green up before last weekend's rain. The drought designation was removed, and it is not anticipated to return any time soon. This is atypical when we have this kind of weather. It may lessen the monsoon, or it could extend into fire season. We are at 109 percent of normal from January through May."

He showed graphs that noted the higher March precipitation levels. "The eastern side of the state is not faring as well as we are. The energy component, which indicates the level of fire risk is down to 35, which is significantly lower than average. The moisture of big logs is trending upward, above 10 percent, higher than last year."

Pass Fire Daily Update June 3, 2023

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 03 June 2023 03 June 2023

See map and smoke outlook at the bottom of this article.

Gila Las Cruces Type 3 Incident Management Team Incident Commander – Pete Valenzuela
Information Phone: 720 693-3527 Hours: 8 am-8pm

Acres: 29,073
Location: 40 miles west of Winston, NM
Containment: 0%
Personnel: 164
Start Date: May 18, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Timber, pinon/juniper and grass

Visibility over the fire decreased yesterday due to smoke and aerial operations were canceled. Cloud cover helped crews on the ground by cooling the fire area, reducing fire behavior, and making fuels more receptive to suppression tactics. Crews continue to patrol the fire perimeter, locating and extinguishing hot spots and documenting fire effects.

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Front Page News

Pass Fire Daily Update June 7, 2023

GRMC Governing Board held regular meeting May 25, 2023

Pass Fire Daily Update June 6, 2023

Pass Fire Daily Update June 5, 2023

Anything-But-a-Car-Show 060423

Pass Fire Daily Update June 4, 2023

Grant County Commission held special meeting May 23, 2023

Pass Fire Daily Update June 3, 2023

Content on the Beat

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Editor's Notes