Prescribed Fire Near Canjilon Began Today

Canjilon, N.M., Oct. 20, 2023— After careful consideration of the current and forecasted weather, as well as the fuel conditions, fire officials determined that today was the best day to begin ignitions on the Blas Unit within the Canjilon Wildland Urban Interface Project.

Fire crews were able to create a solid black line along much of the north, west and some of the southern perimeter of the Blas Prescribed Fire Unit today. They completed burning 250-acres of the proposed total 841-acre unit. The fire crews are now monitoring and holding the fire within the unit. If the conditions are right, crews will continue ignitions and work to complete the burn tomorrow.

With rain forecasted to arrive on Monday, fire officials decided to focus efforts and resources on completing the Blas Unit. The Montoya Unit will be addressed in the future.

Partly cloudy skies with lows in the mid-40’s and humidity’s in the low 30’s is expected tonight. Very good ventilation is predicted tomorrow with mostly sunny skies, temps in the low 70’s and winds out of the north at 5 mph shifting to the west from 6 – 8 mph in the afternoon.

Smoke is visible from Canjilon, Placita Garcia, Cebolla, Abiquiu, Juan Domingo and Trout Lake recreation areas. A smoke monitor is in place at the Canjilon Ranger Station and air quality updates will be provided if conditions change.

Since 2011, Forest Service staff and partners have been thinning and applying prescribed fire around the communities of Canjilon and Placita Garcia, which are completely surrounded by Carson National Forest. Many adjacent private landowners, with the assistance of the state, are contributing by thinning and applying prescribed fire on their properties. A map that shows how the Montoya and Blas units fit into the bigger picture is available online.

If a future wildfire reaches the area after treatments are completed, the fire behavior will likely be modified to a less intense, more manageable surface fire.

The Canjilon project is part of the 3.8 million-acre Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project, which supports the National Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

The public can learn more information about this prescribed fire on InciWeb, New Mexico Fire Information and Carson National Forest social media channels (Facebook, X).

(Photo: A fire crew member monitors a recently-ignited piece of forest in the Blas Unit.)