Locations are Near Angel Fire, Canjilon and El Rito With weather conditions continuing to offer opportunities for prescribed fire, Carson National Forest fire crews remain on track with potential projects to reduce the threat of wildfire to communities, infrastructure and natural resources: Sotano Prescribed Fire (2,366 acres) beginning as early as Oct. 7 near El […]

Fire crews yesterday treated 500 acres in the American Creek Prescribed Fire unit, wrapping up ignitions on the project. They remain on scene today to mop up and hold the fire, which will continue to burn fuels in the unit’s interior. Smoke may continue to be visible. With a total of 950 acres treated, fire […]

Fire crews are continuing with ignitions on the American Creek Prescribed Fire today after treating 450 acres on Wednesday. The prescribed fire is an understory burn, which mimics fire’s natural role in vegetation communities where it is frequent and low intensity. Crews apply fire broadly throughout an area under the forest canopy where grasses, leaf […]

Preparations for the American Creek Prescribed Fire Still Ongoing With ideal weather conditions continuing, Carson National Forest fire managers are tentatively continuing with prescribed fire activity this week. Crews are continuing to prepare for the American Creek Prescribed Fire, where ignitions will begin as early as Oct. 1 and are expected to last two to […]

Taking advantage of fall weather, Carson National Forest fire managers are planning to begin prescribed fire ignitions to improve forest health and resilience as early as Oct. 1. Crews plan to start with the American Creek Prescribed Fire to the west of Tres Piedras, N.M. The exact days of ignitions will depend on wind, weather […]

New Webpage Section Launched to Provide More Information Taking advantage of cooler temperatures, shorter days and recent moisture, Carson National Forest fire managers have determined which prescribed fires they will potentially move forward with in the first half of fall 2024. The exact timing of each will depend on specific wind, weather and fuel moisture […]

This will be the final regular update The Mestenas Canyon Fire is now fully surrounded by control lines. Crews on Wednesday cut handline on the fire’s northwest edge, increasing containment on the now 837-acre blaze to 65 percent. The fire’s north end remains the only uncontained area, however the control line is Forest Road 312N, […]

Crews on Tuesday completed significant work on the Mestenas Canyon Fire, which has grown to 716 acres with 40% containment. The fire’s heel on the south end is now completely contained.  Meanwhile, the fire’s head continues to slowly progress north toward Forest Road 312, which crews prepared as a potential containment line. Low-hanging branches, known […]

Crews on Monday continued to build control lines and conducted more firing operations on the Mestenas Canyon Fire, which has grown to 628 acres with 30% containment. Containment was gained on the fire’s southern edge, and a ¾-mile stretch of Forest Road 312 was blacklined, which is when fire personnel burn fuels along a control […]

Crews continue to work the Mestenas Canyon Fire, which is slowly growing within completed and planned containment lines. The fire is currently estimated at 584 acres with 15% containment. On Sunday, crew members black lined along the northern segment of Forest Road 312N. Black lining is burning fuels along a control line ahead of the […]

Rain tamped down much of the behavior on the Mestenas Canyon Fire, where the perimeter has grown to 477 acres with 15% containment. Steep terrain and outflow winds from nearby thunderstorms are driving the fire’s spread on its north and east sides. To contain the fire, crews are nearby using indirect methods by reducing fuels […]

Crews continue to work the Mestenas Canyon Fire, which has grown to 350 acres with 0% containment. Outflow winds from nearby storms pushed two heads of the fire up canyon slopes onto Mestenas Mesa where crews are securing roads as potential containment lines. The overall suppression strategy is to contain the fire using existing roads […]

Final Regular Update  With the Yeso Fire spread throughout the predetermined confinement area, Carson National Forest fire crews today are continuing to focus on securing the fire’s edge.   Yesterday, crews evaluated interior portions and physically walked the boundary of the predetermined area with a GPS unit. Now with better mapping, the predetermined area—and the […]

Crews remain on scene of the Mestenas Canyon Fire. The fire is currently estimated at 70 acres with no containment. There is potential for smoke impacts on Highway 64 and surrounding areas. The fire’s origin point is deep in a canyon surrounded by rocky cliff bands and numerous snags. For firefighter safety, crews are monitoring […]

After a successful day of operations on the Yeso Fire’s edge, Carson National Forest fire crews will today evaluate interior areas, chip fuels along roads and may conduct limited firing operations if needed. The fire stands at 300 acres with no containment.  Crews yesterday completed blackline around the entire fire’s perimeter. Blacklining is pre-burning fuels […]

Smoke is expected to be more visible today Carson National Forest fire crews are planning to begin firing operations on the 165-acre Yeso Fire today, ahead of significant precipitation forecasted this week. They will fire off roads to fill in a 600-acre predetermined area, which is largely surrounded by existing roads.  “This is our big day of […]

Carson National Forest and Rio Fernando Volunteer Fire Department fire crews tonight contained the Baca Fire, northeast of Valle Econdido, N.M., on the Camino Real Ranger District. The lightning-caused a spot fire burned two trees to the north of Highway 64. 

Carson National Forest fire crews are on scene of the Mestenas Canyon Fire, about 10 miles southwest of Dulce, N.M., on the Jicarilla Ranger District. It’s located about two miles north of Highway 64 in Mestenas Canyon. The lightning-caused fire is estimated to be 10 to 15 acres with no containment. Due to safety concerns, […]

Fire will play its natural role in the forest before crews contain it Carson National Forest fire managers will move forward with a strategy to indirectly suppress the naturally caused Yeso Fire. For fire crew safety, they plan to contain it primarily within existing roads. “After reviewing all the data, I believe this is the […]

Carson National Forest fire crews are monitoring two lightning-caused fires to the south of Canjilon, N.M. The Yeso and Mesa del Medio fires are burning just outside the Canjilon Wildland Urban Interface Project, where the Forest Service, partners and landowners have been thinning and applying prescribed fire for over a decade.  The two fires are […]