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.
Weather: Tuesday, the breezes pick up with clear skies in the morning, clouds will begin building after noon. There will be 40% chance of thunderstorm development and rain later in the day. Things will start drying out and warming up again after Tuesday.
Aviation Restrictions: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is still in place over the Pass Fire. All non-fire aircraft are restricted. This includes civilian drones. Unauthorized aircraft in the area will ground firefighting aircraft, hindering firefighting efforts.
Closures: The Gila National Forest remains open. Visitors are encouraged to use extreme caution when driving near the fire area due to the presence of firefighters and equipment.
Health: An air quality report specific to the communities surrounding the fire area is posted daily to the Gila National Forest Facebook page and the Inciweb page for the fire.
For More Information:
• Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmgnf-pass-fire Inciweb is the official site for fire
information. This site is secure and updated daily.
• New Mexico Fire Information: https://nmfireinfo.com/
• Air Quality: https://www.airnow.gov