June 4. 2024: Update on Saturday's Rodeo Road fire
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 04 June 2024 04 June 2024
By Roger Lanse
According to Milo Lambert, Silver City Fire Department Chief, the Rodeo Road Fire, which blackened about two acres Saturday, June 1, in a 'scrap yard,' on property owned by Verlaine Jones has been controlled but is still burning under a metal canopy 60-feet in from the edge of the charred area. Firefighting personnel cannot yet reach the burning material, including smoldering tires, under the canopy.
The Whiskey Creek Volunteer Fire Department has taken over command of the incident, Lambert said, and monitors the site several times a day. SCFD is also regularly inspecting the site. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and whether citations will be issued await the outcome of those investigations.
Lambert told the Beat a 60-foot firebreak has been constructed around the burn site. A "wild guess" is possibly 40 vehicles and half-a-dozen structures were destroyed in the blaze. WCVFD may have a final count tomorrow, Lambert opined.
Crews are still mopping up and it may take "a couple of weeks" to fully extinguish all the hot spots, Lambert stated.
Video of June 1, 2024 Rodeo Road Fire taken by Jeff Johnson from Memory Lane Cemetery.
McCray Art Gallery hosts Centennial photography reception 052624
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 03 June 2024 03 June 2024
Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Western New Mexico University McCray Art Gallery, as part of the Gila Wilderness Centennial, hosted a photography show by three photographers, using different techniques in their art.
Michael Berman's photos of the wilderness included large pieces divided into equal sections, as well as photos layered on other photos. Jan Haley's photography emphasizes patterns and the changing of the wilderness systems. Phillip Connors said his work is primarily documentary, as he works summers as a fire spotter on the Gila National Forest.
The current exhibit stays through June 7, 2024, so make an effort to visit. Gallery hours are below the photos.
A Centennial of Wilderness part of Friday speaker series 052624
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 03 June 2024 03 June 2024
Article and video by Martha Hamblen
It's the World's First Designated Wilderness. Say that again - The Word's first designated Wilderness. The amazing and majestic Gila Wilderness turns 100 years old this week and it's right in your backyard.
The Gila Wilderness is almost 800,000 acres of mountains, forest, canyons, rocks, creeks, lakes and historical archeological sites. As many in New Mexico and Grant County already know, it's beyond comprehension in its beauty, breadth and historical value.
History Live, hosted by the Town and Country Garden Club 052731
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 03 June 2024 03 June 2024
Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy
Video by Martha Hamblen
The afternoon of Memorial Day, May 27, 2024, the Town and Country Garden Club hosted its final History Live event at Memory Lane Cemetery. The club has now disbanded, but some of the last members wanted to once more host the event they began some years ago.
The club, since the 1960s, had raised money, through its thrift store downtown and other efforts, to keep their adopted special project, the Memory Lane Cemetery, beautified, with its Rose Garden. With the disbandment of the club, a permanent fund remains to maintain the Rose Garden.
The event allows participants to walk through the cemetery and hear from actors portraying figures from the town's history.
Memorial Day 052724
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 02 June 2024 02 June 2024
Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy
Videos by Al Gamboa
On May 27, 2924, a bright sunny Monday, veterans, family members, and supporters of veterans gathered to take part in the annual Fort Bayard National Cemetery Memorial Day ceremonies to honor those who died in service to country.
The Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League Detachment 1328 hosted the event, but veterans from the Grant County Veterans Coalition, which includes all local veteran organizations, participated in the ceremonies.
Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Dean Bearup, Ret., served as master of ceremonies.
Photo and video added: Scrap yard burns hot
- Category: Front Page News Front Page News
- Published: 02 June 2024 02 June 2024
By Roger Lanse
Photo and video by Lynn Janes (below)
June 1. 2024 – 10:30 p.m.
Black smoke was seen billowing into the sky Saturday, around 6 p.m., June 1, 2024, from a two-acre fire at a scrap yard in the area of Rosedale, Rodeo, and Spring Creek roads, and the smoke was observed from as far away as Deming, T or C, and Glenwood. According to Silver City Fire Department Chief Milo Lambert, 49 firefighters from every volunteer fire department in the county, with the possible exception of Sapillo Volunteer Fire, and 13 firefighters from SCFD, responded to the fire. Also responding were the Silver City Police Department and the Grant County Sheriff's Office.