Rincon Fire Community Meeting tonight in Mora

June 17, 2021 Daily Update

Highlights: The Southwest Area Type 2 Incident Management Team 4 will host a community meeting today, Thursday, June 17, at 8:00 PM at the Mora High School Lecture Hall, 10 Ranger Rd. The public is encouraged to join in-person or virtually during the livestream at https://facebook.com/santafeNF/.

Operations: On Wednesday, the incident management team continued to assess the Rincon Fire and prepare defenses on the eastern edge of the Santa Fe National Forest. The Team has also been focusing on building relationships and connecting with local landowners who are most affected by the nearby fire. These partnerships between the Team, the Forest and the local community will be essential for the success of the Rincon Fire and for wildland fires that occur in the future.  After several lightning strikes in the area, a new fire start was detected on Grass Mountain just south of the Rincon Fire. A helitack crew and helicopter used buckets to drop water and extinguish the flames, containing the spread at 1/10^th of an acre.

Weather: Showers and thunderstorms developed west and north of the fire on Wednesday, passing to the southwest through mid-afternoon. A few storms moved into the area late in the afternoon, but minimal rain fell across the fire. Temperatures ranged anywhere from mid 70s at high elevation to upper 80s at lower elevation, prior to storms moving across the area.

Safety: The health and safety of firefighters and the public is the first priority. Members of the public are urged to stay away from the vicinity of the Rincon Fire. Backpackers planning to enter the Pecos Wilderness are advised to change their plans.

Restrictions/Closures: Due to ongoing drought and high fire danger, the Santa Fe National Forest is implementing Stage 1 fire restrictions forest-wide with a new order that takes effect at 8:00 AM on Thursday, June 17. The west side of the Forest has been in Stage 1 fire restrictions since May 24. In addition, a Temporary Flight Restriction remains in place over the area, which includes unmanned aircraft, or drones. The Santa Fe National Forest has issued a closure order to protect public health and safety from June 16 through December 31, 2021, unless rescinded earlier. The closure order prohibits members of the public from entering the restricted area, including all Forest Service lands, roads and trails on the eastern side of the Pecos Wilderness within an area roughly defined by Jacks Creek Trail #257 and Beatty’s Trail #25 on the west to Skyline Trail #251 on the north to the Pecos Wilderness boundary on the east to Lone Pine Mesa Trail # 214, El Porvenir Trail #247 and Skyline Trail #251 on the south, then heading north to Iron Gate Trailhead and Jacks Creek Trailhead.

Smoke: Smoke from the Rincon Fire is visible within a 100-mile radius of the fire. An interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/ allows you to zoom into your location to see the latest smoke information. Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. Information on air quality and protecting your health can be found online at the New Mexico Department of Health Environmental Public Health Tracking website at https://nmtracking.org/fire.

Community Meeting Details: A Facebook account is not required to view the video. If a pop-up box appears when you first navigate to the link, you can use the scroll bar on the right to scroll down to the view and/or click “not now” to minimize the login pop-up. We will monitor online Facebook questions during the meeting, or you can email us your questions in advance at 2021.rincon@firenet.gov. A recording will be posted following the meeting.

Fire updates will be posted on Inciweb, SFNF Facebook and Twitter, SFNF website, and New Mexico Fire Information website

Email: 2021.rincon@firenet.gov •  Phone: (505) 445-8278 • Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

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