Officials move to quash Little Bear Fire rumors

Gov. Susanna Martinez and Forest Service officials addressed local concerns regarding the purported mishandling of the Little Bear Fire during its early days at a briefing this morning at the Ruidoso Fire Station on White Mountain Drive. Learning the facts regarding the fire before speaking to friends, neighbors or acquaintances would help prevent "the agony of learning that your house is gone, and later learning that it's not," Martinez said. A great deal of misinformation had made its way throughout the community, and that needed to stop, she said. Tudor later addressed specific concerns, including Congressman Steve Pearce's remarks that forest service officials had been slow to get water on the blaze. "The question has come up, why wasn't water used, why wasn't a bucket drop used," he said. Because of the elevation of the fire, 10,500 feet above sea level, helicopters were unable to respond with standard equipment, he said. A helicopter had been sent up to the fire within hours of its detection to shuttle the Sacramento Hotshots up to the slopes to begin suppression, he added. "Water was never denied on the fire, it was never rejected on the fire, it just had to be taken in a different manner because of the altitude," he said. "At that altitude it's really difficult to get equipment off the ground and safely carry it." The judgment call on safety was left in the hands of the experts, the pilots, he said. "They tried to get off the ground and they just couldn't do it. Quite frankly, we've had some tough weather days up there." Smaller, specialized tanks, called Blivets, had quickly been ordered and equipped on helicopters to enable them to begin dumping water, drawn from Alto and Mescalero lakes, onto the fire, he said. "The forest service, all along, has been in full suppression of the incident," he said. The policy of New Mexico foresters is to "fully suppress all fires," he added...more