Smoke From Wildfires Affecting Southwestern N.M.

The two lightening-sparked fires burning in the Gila have merged and are now at more than 22,000 acres and a precautionary evacuation has been issued for the summer community of Willow Creek. Alex Torres, a public information officer with the Gila National Forest, said the Whitewater Fire, which has been burning since May 16 about 10 miles northeast of Glenwood and five miles southwest of Willow Creek, grew by 9,000 acres Tuesday night due to high winds. Both air support and fire crews are standing by, he said, waiting for the winds to die down so they can begin to attack the growing blaze. Seven people were evacuated from Willow Creek, a summer community of 57 homes, at 5 p.m. Tuesday, he said. Residents were allowed back in Wednesday morning to retrieve their belongings and then evacuated again. He said fire crews are putting sprinklers, hoses and water tanks in the subdivision to protect it in the event the fire heads that direction. The fire remains at zero percent containment because firefighters are unable to directly suppress it due to extreme fire behavior. Red Flag Warnings, noting high winds, were in effect Tuesday and Wednesday and are expected to continue into today. Air support has been grounded because of the wind but one air tanker and two helicopters are standing by at the Silver City Fire Cache waiting for winds to decrease, and another is standing by at incident command post at the Negrito Fire Base. More than 400 personnel are on the fire and had been working on contingency lines to keep the fire from spreading into Willow Creek. Torres said they have not been able to put any fire crews in the canyon because of the rugged terrain and the extreme fire behavior and unpredictable winds. Crews were pulled back to staging areas on Wednesday for their safety. They will continue to monitor the fire and start to suppress it as soon as they can safely do so. The Baldy Fire was also sparked by lightening, on May 8, about a mile south of the Mogollon Baldy lookout tower in the Gila Wilderness. That fire was previously being managed and not actively suppressed but now that the two have merged, fire managers are assessing what they need for resources on the fire. On Tuesday, the fire made a run up the south side of Willow Mountain and southwest toward Lipsey Canyon and made a substantial run eastward toward Turkey Feather Mountain. This extreme fire behavior created a large column of smoke which was visible in many communities in New Mexico as well as some in Arizona. Ash was reported falling 35 to 40 miles away due to the strong winds. The fire is burning at times through heavily timbered areas causing smoke to become more concentrated and smoke is clearly visible from the Silver City area and is affecting much of the southern third of New Mexico...more