First fires of the season

Big Boy was sent to Colorado and is working on these two fires. He sent me this picture.

The Bear Fire and the Purgatoire Fire, located in Las Animas County have not been as active today due to cloud cover, cooler temperatures, and higher humidity. The Bear Fire has burned approximately 6885 acres on Horseshoe and Barela Mesas. 324 acres have burned in the state of New Mexico and 6561 acres have burned in the state of Colorado. The Purgatoire Fire has grown to approximately 6140 acres. The Purgatoire Fire is burning in the Purgatoire River Canyon in steep terrain. Crews are working to suppress this fire where access is available. Residents are urged to be aware of the potential for the fire to spread as winds push the fire out of the canyon.

There are currently 400 personnel assigned to these fires. Those personnel include 15 engines, 9 Type 1 hotshot crews, 8 type 2 hand crews and 5 bulldozers. Bulldozers and crews are continuing with construction of new line and improvement of existing line. Engines are providing structure protection as well as patrolling and reinforcing fire lines. There are also four helicopters working on the fire as conditions allow.

Isolated precipitation has fallen on the Bear Fire this afternoon but the potential still exists for active fire behavior due to the associated winds from thunderstorms. Tomorrow's weather prediction calls for very high winds on both fires which could lead to very active fire behavior.

There are ranches, outbuildings and historic structures near the fire. No evacuations are in place at this time but residents are on alert and will be notified if evacuations are needed.

Due to heavy fire traffic, the public is being asked to stay out of the area unless they are residents. There are road restrictions in place on Grey Creek Road near the Bear Fire. Only residents are allowed past road restrictions.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Lightning
Date of Origin	Thursday May 26th, 2011 approx. 03:28 PM
Location	20 miles northeast of Raton, NM
Incident Commander	Todd Richardson

 

Current Situation

Total Personnel	351
Size	6,885 acres
Percent Contained	40%
Estimated Containment Date	Saturday June 11th, 2011 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	This fire is burning in mixed confer, brush and grass.
Fire Behavior	Thunderstorms moved over the fire today bringing high wind and isolated precipitation resulting in a slight decrease in fire behavior. Single and group tree torching was observed.
Significant Events	Assessed and constructed road access to the north fire perimeter. Continued to hold and mop-up South and East flanks.

 

Outlook

Planned Actions	Continue to construct, improve and hold control lines on the West side of the fire using hand crews and dozers. Continue to hot spot and mop-up east side.
Growth Potential	High
Terrain Difficulty	High
Remarks	The Rocky Mountain Type 2 team is continuing to manage the Bear fire and the Purgatoire fire separately. Overhead will be tracked on the Bear fire 209. Acres to date: New Mexico 324 acres, Colorado 6561 acres.