Saturday, May 7, 2022
Opening hours: 8:00 – 20:00 Phone: 505-312-4593 Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov InciWeb: Twitter: Facebook:
Area: 34,671 acres Restriction: 11%
Staff and equipment: a total of 837 staff; 38 engines, 6 manual crews type 1, 11 manual crews type 2, 5 initial type 2
assault crews, 9 helicopters, 2 scoop planes, 10 bulldozers, 1 chewing gum, 2 ambulances, 1 rapid medical extraction unit and 15 water mains. Helicopters of the National Guard of the Air Force are on standby.
Yesterday: Firefighters working on Highway 4 on the northeast side have completed the thinning of dense shrubs, trees and made significant progress with tactical burns, keeping this corner of the fire safe. U.S. Department of Energy chewing gum continued to grind combustible vegetation on Highway 4 west of tactical fires. Highway 4 remains closed from 34 miles to 50. Crews continued to patrol the northwest corner of the fire. Hand teams secured the fire on Thursday on the west side of the fire and north of the Meadow helicopter sinking site. The place has become part of the western perimeter. There was a fire line built to connect the finger coming out of the fire in the southwest corner. Tactical firing was used to protect the old growth by maintaining a low fire intensity. On the south side of the fire, additional adjustments were made with dozers to straighten the lines on Forest Road (FR) 270. Fuels on the south side of the fire are scarce and the only fire occurred during towing, where there was some fuel dropped to the fire. The southwest corner of the fire was moving slowly, advancing only when the wood drains had little fuel to consume. On the east side of the fire, FR 289 will be considered the primary line, as the fire continued to burn slowly through the rare fuels in the steep canyons. Most of the eastward movement was slow, with the only progression seen in steep canyons. Fuels are scarce, progressing only in the drains and when the winds align with these canyons. The operations noted that there were no attempts to build a fire line along the western perimeter by hand, as the ground was extremely steep and would endanger the safety of firefighters. FR 289 is prepared and equipped with extensive hoses. Fire operations have also shown that roads to the east are being prepared as emergency lines. No new structural losses were reported. Super scooper aircraft continued to release water from Lake Kochiti and secured Rabbit Mountain and Cochiti Mesa. Coordination continued between the incident team and Pueblo of Gemez and Pueblo of Cochiti for route preparation, with some dosing lines used to straighten the line as the fire slowly progressed south. Safety and operations did not report any serious injuries to firefighters. AM Radio 1610 has been designated as a public service to provide news on firefighting efforts.
Today: Firefighters will continue to work on the perimeter of the fire on Highway 4 to the north, Forest Road (FR) 266 to the west, FR 270 to the south and FR 289 to the east to improve fire lines with thinning and fragmentation. Tactical firing will be used to improve fire lines along the northeast corner and east perimeter of the fire, along the Alamo Highway from Highway 4 to FR 289. US Department of Energy mastic will continue to grind vegetation on Highway 4. Firefighters have fully discharged the Northeast and eastern perimeter and expect to carry out tactical incineration. Firefighters will also coordinate with the National Parks Service in this area to protect the structure of the Bandelier National Monument and the Valles Caldera National Reserve. The protection of the construction site continued in this area and the structural group moved through all areas with housing and constructions. Firefighters will continue to coordinate with Pueblo of Kochiti and are still assessing and protecting structures in the Kochiti Lake area. Limiting and clearing the 30-acre fire in the southwestern part of the fire will continue today.
Weather and behavior in case of fire: Today’s weather includes a red flag warning due to gusts of wind up to 35 mph and low relative humidity with one-digit numbers. Temperatures will be in the mid-70s. Weather forecasts are expected close to historical wind levels in the next 4 days. Expect flank fire to the north, with an active fire near Lake Kitty. The fire is expected to continue back from the west side of the fire to the limitation lines of FR266. As the fire moves southeast and east, there is the potential for the fire to spread quickly, especially if the winds align with the drains. In the northeast, winds can align with canyons and have the potential for high levels of distribution. The east side of the fire has the greatest potential for the fire to spread to 5 miles if it exceeds the extinguishing action. The potential for the spread of fire from the south is expected to be slowed by auxiliary fire and moved to the containment lines.
Evacuations, shelters: the Kochiti Mesa and Peralta Canyon communities, including the Cox Ranch,
remain in a state of evacuation “Go”. Sandoval County Fire Service and the Emergency Management will provide up-to-date information on evacuations, if necessary. Evacuations to the Sierra de los Pinos, Vales Caldera National Reserve
stay in Setup mode, which means you’re ready to leave at some point. If conditions change and the fire threatens the community again, these areas may return to Forward. Los Alamos County, James Springs, La Cueva and the Lake Kochiti area remain on standby.
Air quality: Air quality information is available from the Ministry of Health of New Mexico. Monitoring public environmental health. An interactive smoke map of the address allows you to zoom in on your area to see the latest smoke conditions.
Closure: Highway 4 remains closed to all traffic from mile marker 34 to mile marker 50 (at the intersection of Hwy 4 and 501) due to fire activity. Firefighters and firefighters will work on Highway 4 and will have access to the fire, especially at intersections with FR 10 and FR 280. Heavy traffic interferes with firefighting efforts and endangers the safety of firefighters. The latest information on road closures can be found here:
The Santa Fe National Forest has issued an order to close the Cerro Pelado fire zone and a second order to close the Cerro Pelado fire camp under FR 376. The purpose of both orders is to protect public health and safety due to the extreme fire risk in the Restricted Zone. The Bandelier National Monument and the Valles Caldera National Reserve remain closed due to fire until further notice.
Fire Restrictions: Stage II fire restrictions apply to the Santa Fe National Forest, which prohibits all campfires and other hazardous activities. Due to ongoing fire threats, Sandoval County will not issue incineration permits.
Temporary flight restriction: There is a restriction on flights in the area above the fire (10 nautical miles southwest of Los Alamos, NOTAM 2/2366). Drones over the fire are also banned.
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