Apple Tree Fire grows to 60-acres miles from Timberon and Cloudcroft

At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 18 a fire began on the Sacramento Ranger District, just six miles from Timberon, New Mexico. The fire was ignited by lightning and has grown to 60 acres.

Reports indicated the fire is burning dead and downed trees in the area. Campers and hikers are advised to avoid Apple Tree Trail and Apple Tree Canyon and anywhere else near the fire.

“We have about 50 personnel out there right now,” said Amanda Fry, media contact for the Lincoln National Forest. “We wanted people to know that Sacramento Lookout is closed, we just want people to avoid hiking the Apple Tree Trail and Apple Tree Canyon.”

According to New Mexico Fire, the uncontained fire is low and moving slowly across the forest floor. There are no communities at risk, but smoke may be seen from Timberon, Sunspot and Cloudcroft.

"The Apple Tree Fire is exhibiting low to moderate fire behavior as it moves across the forest floor. We are not seeing large areas of trees being destroyed," said Deputy Fire Staff Officer Brad Johnson for the Lincoln National Forest.

"Instead, we are seeing fire play its natural role in the forest by removing the dead and downed logs which allows for regeneration of new plants and reduces the risk of high-intensity fire in the future."

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Apple Tree Fire only miles from Timberon and Cloudcroft