Albuquerque Journal

Sunday, March 25, 2001

N.M. Fire Officials Gear Up for Worst

By David Mercer Of the Journal With a heavy snow pack holding in northern New Mexico's mountains, some might be tempted to put the memories of 2000's disastrous fire season behind them and believe the season ahead doesn't hold the same potential for catastrophe. Firefighters and forecasters working in the region aren't among them. The encouraging information, according to Albuquerque-based National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Maxwell, comes from measures of those mountain snow packs, as high as 124 percent of average in some northern mountains. Less encouraging? More moisture means the region's lower elevations are carpeted with a healthy layer of grass, waiting to dry and burn. "As of right now we've already had some fires here in this area because it's still dry," Las Vegas, N.M., Fire Chief Robert Gonzales said Saturday. "People don't realize it's dry" and want to burn trash and brush. Some is left over from last year when dry weather and news of big fires made many reluctant to so much as strike a match. Gonzales said his department already has responded to a handful of grass fires in recent weeks, one that burned 25 acres and another that quickly consumed three or four acres. Both threatened homes. "It's still not as wet as people think," he said. "But remember, we've had a drought for what, six years now." Taos Administrative Fire Chief Jim Fambro believes the fire season of 2001 will be active. In just the past couple of weeks the number of fire permits issued by his department has sharply spiked. "So people are starting to get the itch," he said. One such permitted fire was driven out of control by swirling winds Saturday afternoon and consumed an acre before firefighters got a handle on it, Fambro said. Still, he would rather see people do any burning they feel necessary now rather than wait until later this spring, when the weather may be warmer and drier. Just what's ahead, Maxwell said, is hard to say. The long-term outlook calls for drier- and warmer-than-average weather. What that really means, Maxwell said, is difficult to say. "I'd be surprised if we didn't have one more big, wet storm come through here by the middle of April," said the meteorologist, who authors the weather service's extended fire weather forecasts for New Mexico. "That's just the way spring is here." Snow that is sitting in the high mountains so far is impressive when compared to last year. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington, D.C.: the Pecos River Basin was at 124 percent of average in the first week of March, compared to 37 percent a year ago; Sangre de Cristo drainages were at 120 percent of normal, while only 59 percent early last spring; and Jemez Mountains drainages were at 104 percent, compared to 31 percent last year. "That's good for places that benefit from the slow melt-off of snow," Maxwell said. In that high country, "there's much less likelihood of an early fire season." And odds also are decreased for another Viveash, the 28,000-acre fire that swept across the southern Sangre de Cristos last spring, and Cerro Grande, which burned almost 48,000 acres in the Jemez range in May and destroyed more than 400 residences in Los Alamos. Maxwell offers a couple of caveats, though. He notes that snow measures are taken in some of the highest, coldest places, "not where fire activity is going to be the highest." He also points out that northern New Mexico's snow pack doesn't peak until the middle of April. And two or three weeks of windy, dry weather — hardly out of the question — could change the picture significantly by then. "That could eat up the snow pack," he said. Firefighters across the region, in the meantime, say they'll plan and wait. Chama Volunteer Fire Department Chief Felix Gallegos said his department saw few brush fires last season but nonetheless had a truck follow the daily departure of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's steam engines to the Colorado border for fear that a stray cinder might ignite a blaze. They'll be ready to do the same this year for the tourist line to Antonito, Colo., he said. Gonzales said his department will be passing out brochures on how people can safeguard their own homes against wildfire and offers free home inspections in Las Vegas to evaluate dangers such as debris on roofs and the ground around homes. Fambro said his department offers similar inspections and will plan for at least the potential of another bad year. "We're still gearing up for the worst," he said, "and we'll hope for the best, I guess."

-- Anonymous, March 25, 2001