NM fire burns more homes in Manzano Mountains

| The Associated Press

5/2/2008 - 5/2/08

MANZANO — Lower winds Friday helped fire crews who are battling 13,000-acre fire burning in the Manzano Mountains.

The main focus of the crews was to protect Torreon and Tajique, two small communities at the base of the mountains.

"Their main focus is going to be point protection. That means they're really going to be concentrating on structures and the towns of Torreon and Tajique and the area of Ten Pines," said fire information officer Arlene Perea. "That's their main objective right now."

Some homes burned Thursday, but fire officials said that as of Friday, crews had not been able to get into the area to determine how many had been consumed by the Trigo Fire.

Residents of Torreon, Tajique and surrounding areas — 400 to 500 people — were asked to evacuate but fire officials said some people refused to leave despite the large plume of smoke looming over the area.

Those who evacuated had not been able to return by Friday afternoon, said Linda Kearns, a fire information officer.

The blaze had been 95 percent contained at 4,500 acres before a spot fire flared on its north side Wednesday afternoon and gusts of more than 50 mph drove the flames about 3 miles to the northeast.

The fire was pushed again by high winds on Thursday. Flames reached N.M. 55 after nightfall and crews used bulldozers and the highway as a fire break to slow down the flames. Kearns said crews halted the fire about 150 yards from the road.

The blaze was 30 percent contained Friday.

Winds were calmer Friday, in the 16-23 mph range with some gusts up to 30 mph, Kearns said.

More than 400 people, augmented by air tankers laying down fire retardant and helicopters dropping huge buckets of water, were assigned to the blaze.

Gov. Bill Richardson declared Torrance County a disaster area because of the damage from the Trigo Fire. The declaration makes emergency state funding available for firefighting efforts and to help provide emergency services.

Richardson on Thursday ordered the activation of the state Emergency Operation Center to monitor the Trigo Fire and dangerous fire conditions around the state and to offer help.

State Forestry, state police, the Livestock Board and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department all are assisting on the scene of the Trigo Fire.

Richardson, who received a briefing on firefighting efforts Thursday afternoon, said it's clear wind will prevent full use of firefighting resources for a couple of days.

The human-caused fire began April 15 in the Cibola National Forest. The blaze burned nine weekend or summer homes and several outbuildings last week.

In southern New Mexico, firefighters were battling an estimated 5,000-acre fire on the Mescalero Apache reservation. Residents of 70 to 80 homes in South Tularosa Canyon and Mud Canyon were evacuated Thursday as the fire made a run at the scattered housing developments.

Gwen Shaffer, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs fire information, said no homes or other buildings burned, but people remained out of their homes Friday morning.

Fire crews had no containment lines on the blaze, she said.

The blaze broke out about 11:15 a.m. Thursday and grew rapidly into an area hit by an earlier fire. Strong wind pushed it toward the homes but it crested a ridge above the homes instead of burning into the developed area, Shaffer said.

The high wind had grounded aerial tankers on Thursday, but "they're hoping to hit it real hard with retardant this morning so when winds pick up this afternoon hoping to have it cooled down a little bit," she said.

Route 244 in Mescalero was closed as the fire blew over the route from Cloudcroft to U.S. 70 in Mescalero, Shaffer said. Smoke made visibility in the area very poor, she said.

The area remained under a red flag warning for wind Friday.