Quiet Day on the Seco Fire

August 10, 2020 Update       

Grants, NM – For Immediate Release – After a challenging day of chasing spot fires on Saturday, firefighters had a better day on the Seco Fire yesterday.  Because they were not having to catch spot fires, they were able to continue reinforcing containment lines.  Containment on the Seco Fire is now at 24%.  Fire officials combined the spot fires into the main fire area and got an accurate GPS reading so the size has grown to 26 acres.  Today crews will continue reinforcing of containment lines as well as starting to mop-up (extinguishing or removing burning material near control lines, felling snags, and trenching logs to prevent rolling after an area has burned, to make a fire safe, or to reduce residual smoke). Thunderstorms are once again predicted in the area but so far have not materialized over the fire area.

The incident management team is working to fully suppress this fire burning on Forest Service land and is working closely with local cooperators.

Weather: Partly cloudy in the morning with a 30% chance of scattered showers in the afternoon. Temperatures around 76°-81° with humidity in the upper teens. West winds will be 5-15 mph.

Safety: Safety of the public and firefighters is always the top priority in wildland fire operations. Seco Fire operations include best management practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within firefighter crews/operations and within the general public.

No Drone Zone: The public is reminded to avoid the use of unmanned aerial systems (drones) near wildfires. If drones are illegally flown over a fire, air operations could be suspended. When this happens, fire crews lose a valuable resource, which can adversely affect the safety and efficiency of the overall firefighting effort. Law enforcement can take action against a private citizen or commercial business illegally flying drones over a wildfire. For more information on drones, see https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/fire/uas/if-you-fly, and Know Before You Fly!

Smoke: Smoke may be visible from I-40, and throughout the local area including the Laguna Reservation. Smoke may be monitored if necessary to assess potential health impacts, and the Forest Service will coordinate with the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the New Mexico Environment Department and Department of Health to issue any needed alerts. Additional information can be found at http://nmtracking.org/fire.

Closures: There are currently no closures in place but the public is asked to stay out of the fire area as there is heavy fire traffic. There is a 5-mile temporary flight restriction (TFR) over the fire area to protect pilots and firefighters.

Seco Fire Information: 505-506-1959, 2020.seco@firenet.gov

Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6926/

New Mexico Fire Information: www.nmfireinfo.com

Facebook: Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands (@cibolanf) https://www.facebook.com/cibolanf/

Twitter: Cibola NF&Grasslands; (@Cibola_NF) https://twitter.com/cibola_nf?lang=en

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