Midnight Fire grows to nearly 4,000 acres
Jun. 14—Fire crews battled heavy wind gusts Monday in an effort to prevent the Midnight Fire burning near El Rito from rapidly becoming an inferno.
"Crews were out there actively engaged for 24 hours, so they made some very, very good progress," said Katy O'Hara, a spokeswoman for a Type 1 incident management team that was diverted from the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire to attack the blaze. About 225 personnel were deployed to the newly ignited fire.
Strong winds blowing from the west helped crews on that side of the blaze move closer for a direct attack but, at the same time, pushed back crews on the northeastern side, O'Hara said.
On Monday afternoon, winds gusting up to 45 mph grounded two air tankers and four Super Scooper planes, but 10 helicopters were still able to drop water on the flames, she added.
The Midnight Fire, which sparked Thursday, had grown to 3,944 acres by Monday morning and is proving to be a formidable adversary.
Teams began building defensive lines on the uncontained fire's east and west flanks Sunday, partly to keep it from spreading to the community of Vallecitos.
The communities of Portrero and Valle de los Caballos were ordered to evacuate over the weekend.
The cause of the Midnight Fire remains under investigation.
It is one of several new wildfires that have ignited in New Mexico since last week and promise to further challenge already strained firefighting resources, especially with the weather predicted to be hotter than the seasonal average, dry and windy through much of the week.
O'Hara said the incident team's meteorologist forecasts cooler and more humid weather, with winds letting up Thursday.
"[We're] working to get as much contained with the weather conditions we're dealing with between now and then," O'Hara said. "And then really just put as much effort as we can into it as we get those higher humidities and cooler temperatures."
But with the weather change will come an increased chance of scattered thunderstorms that can spark more fires.
Lightning was determined to be the cause of several smaller fires since late last week:
* The 225-acre Adam Fire in the Gila National Forest. A report on the state fire information page gives no containment estimate but says it has been slowed to a standstill.
* The 111-acre Skates Fire, about 15 miles northeast of Silver City. It is 1 percent contained.
* The 2.5-acre Peppin
* Canyon Fire north of the Capitan Wilderness, now smoldering inside a burn scar and
* being watched.
* The 2-acre Bird Fire south of the Mescelero Reservation. Crews have it under control.
The larger Cerro Bandera Fire, which has burned 939 acres southwest of Grant, is 85 percent contained. Its cause is unknown.
Meanwhile, the two largest blazes in New Mexico's history continue to burn.
The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, the result of two federal prescribed burns that went amiss, has charred 320,495 acres and was 70 percent contained early Monday. There are 2,293 personnel battling the blaze.
The Black Fire, west of Truth of Consequences, has burned 311,692 acres and was 47 percent contained Monday. Authorities say it was human caused but are investigating the exact reason.
Federal officials are throwing additional resources into quelling small fires so they don't turn into giant ones.
O'Hara said an "initial attack group" is set aside and put on standby so it can pounce on a fire as it ignites.
That will be essential as lightning becomes more of a threat later in the week, she said.
