June 25, 2019 
Incident Name – Lone Mountain Fire
Jurisdiction: Lincoln National Forest, Smokey Bear Ranger District
Size: 990 acres
Cause: Lightning
Date/Time Detected: May 26, 2019
Location: 6 miles north of White Oaks, NM.
Lat/Long: 33.80809, -105.7386
Legal Description: T6S, R12E, SESW Sec 1
Fuel Type: Pinyon/Juniper, Grass, Ponderosa Pine
Values at Risk: None
Fire Update: Local crews have been monitoring the Lone Mountain Fire since last Thursday. Over the past month, the Lone Mountain Fire has slowly picked up acreage. This past Saturday the fire started to burn interior pockets of vegetation previously missed by the fire. This presented additional opportunities to decrease fuels in the area; therefore, the decision was made to bring the Columbine Wildland Fire Module back to continue work on the Lone Mountain Fire.
Command of the Lone Mountain Fire will be transferred back to the Columbine Wildland Fire Module on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. Bringing back the Columbine Wildland Fire Module frees up local district fire resources to respond to potential new fire starts.
Smoke may be visible from Carrizozo and Highway 54 over the next few weeks.
A Wildland Fire Module is a ten-person crew of fire experts with specialized skills in GIS and firing techniques to meet specific objectives on the landscape; perfect for fires like the Lone Mountain Fire. The Park Service has used Wildland Fire Modules since the 1980s, and the Forest Service started to put together their own modules in the past ten years.
The Lone Mountain Fire is currently 990 acres. It burned the understory of ponderosa pine stands and also consumed some pinyon-juniper stands. The wildfire was successful in reducing fuel loads by up to 50 percent in some areas. A fuel load is the amount of flammable material available to burn.
Allowing this naturally-ignited low-intensity wildfire to clean up the forest fuels may lessen the severity of a future fire in this area. The grazing permit holder and adjacent landowners have been very supportive of the containment strategy.
For more information on the Lone Mountain Fire, please visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6380/.
Smoke Conditions: Currently, smoke impacts are limited; however, smoke may become visible from Highway 54, Carrizozo, White Oaks, Capitan, and surrounding areas. For more information on air quality and health impacts from smoke, please visit the New Mexico Department of Health website at https://nmtracking.org/fire.
Closures and Restrictions: No closure orders are in effect.
Lone Mountain Fire Information: 575-208-4881
NM Fire Info 
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