Prescribed Fire Ignitions Completed Near Canjilon

Fire crews have determined there is no need to continue with hand and aerial ignitions for the broadcast prescribed fire in the 841-acre Blas Unit within the Canjilon Wildland Urban Interface Project. They have been mopping up while patrolling and monitoring the burn area since Sunday and will continue throughout the week.

Personnel will remain in the area to continue checking the fire by walking the unit boundary, mopping up edges, falling hazard trees and monitoring any remaining interior burning. Light smoke may be observed at times from interior smoldering pockets of unburned fuels, but no further growth is expected.

The area is experiencing low to moderate intensity fire effects, allowing for a healthier forest while creating a strong buffer against future wildfires around the communities of Canjilon and Placita Garcia. The nearby 899-acre Montoya Unit will be addressed in the future.

The area remains open, but locals and visitors should take caution when entering a recently burned area. Motorists should slow down when in the area and near fire crews or equipment.

Since 2011, Forest Service staff and partners have been thinning and applying prescribed fire around the communities of Canjilon and Placita Garcia, which are 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.

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.

(Photo: Prescribe fire treated area on the Blas burn)