June 13, 9pm - Interagency Team Begins Planning for Post Fire Mitigation
Incident: Little Bear Fire Wildfire
Released: 6/13/2012
Fire Information: (575)258-6900
Little Bear Fire June 13, 2012 - 9 p.m.
Interagency Team Begins Planning for Post Fire Mitigation
Start Time/Date: Monday, June 4, 2012
Location: Smokey Bear Ranger District, Lincoln NF, including White Mountain Wilderness
Cause: Lightning
Fuels: Mixed conifer, ponderosa pine
Size: approx. 37,480 acres
Containment: 40 %
Resources Committed: Personnel: 1,356; crews: 10 Type 1, 24 Type 2; engines: 74; helicopters: 8 Type 1, 3 Type 2, Type 3; dozers: 6; water tenders: 22
Injuries: 2 (heat related illness)
Today's Weather: 78 degrees, relative humidity 13%, wind SW 10-20 mph gusting to 25 mph
Structures destroyed: 234 (224 residential structures and 10 outbuildings)
Road Closures: NM 532 (Ski Run Road) at mile marker 3, east and west; NM 37 from mile marker 0 to mile marker 8 North and south. NM 48 has been reopened for through traffic.
Area Closures: The entire White Mountain Wilderness, and that portion of the Smokey Bear Ranger District south of US 380 to the Mescalero Apache Reservation boundary, including a large area east and north of Ruidoso to the south boundary of the Fort Stanton Recreation Area.
Summary: Today the interagency post fire management meeting was held in Ruidoso. Team members from the village of Ruidoso, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lincoln County, State of New Mexico, and Bureau of Indian Affairs began planning for the BAER (burned area emergency response) program. BAER is a "first aid" treatment which is intended to reduce further damage to soil which is temporarily exposed in a fragile condition.
Today's partly cloudy weather and slightly higher humidity allowed firefighters to increase containment. The west and northwest sides of the fire were most active, and crews, supported by aircraft with water and retardant drops, checked the advance of fire by building direct and indirect containment line. On the south side, firefighters continue a burnout operation, which is expected to be completed tonight. Patrol and mop up was the prevalent strategy on the remainder of the fire.
Investigators have concluded that numerous small fires discovered June 4 on the Smokey Bear Ranger District, coincident with the start of the Little Bear Fire on June 4, 2012, were not the result of arson activity. It is most probable that these fires were the result of spotting from the initial ignition.
Meetings: Community meetings were conducted in the main gymnasium of Ruidoso High School, 125 Warrior Road at 4:30 p.m., and at 7:00 p.m. A community meeting was also conducted at the fairgrounds in Capitan at 7:00 p.m.
Lincoln County Commissioner Jackie Powell will conduct a brief meeting regarding the possibilities of flooding and damage in the Valley after the Little Bear fire. The meeting will be conducted at Hondo School on Highway 70, Hondo, NM at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
Evacuations: All campgrounds west of Bonito Lake; subdivisions of Villa Madonna, Enchanted Forest, Nogal Canyon (Forest Road 400, campground and summer homes), Angus, Sierra Vista, Sonterra 1 and 2, Copper Canyon, Loma Grande, Eagle Lakes Campground, Eagle Creek summer homes, Sun Valley and La Junta. Sonterra 3, Cap Rock Court, and Pine Hill Loop are reopened for residents. This list may not be all inclusive. Evacuees may contact either Alto (336-4341) or Nogal ( 354-2548) post offices to arrange for mail pick up.
Shelters: Ruidoso High School at 125 Warrior Road, and Trinity Baptist Church in Capitan. Pets and livestock may be taken to the fairgrounds in Capitan, Pet Paradise in La Luz (575-434-1784), Otero County fairgrounds in Alamogordo (575-434-0788 or 575-491-7553), Lincoln County fairgrounds in Carrizozo (575-808-2814), Lincoln County animal shelter in Ruidoso (575-257-9814 or 575-963-6745), DVM Faris in Ruidoso (575-257-4027), Dunagan Farms in Ruidoso (575-257-9549 or 575-621-4056), and Don Harfield with the New Mexico Livestock Board (575-649-2758)
Information on wildland fire smoke and your health can be found on the New Mexico Department of Health's website at: https://nmtracking.unm.edu/eh alerts/, or call the New Mexico statewide health line at (877)304-4161.
