Single Publication

With weather conditions continuing to offer opportunities for prescribed fire, Carson National Forest fire crews remain on track with potential projects to reduce the threat of wildfire to communities, infrastructure and natural resources:

• Sotano Prescribed Fire (2,366 acres) beginning as early as Oct. 6 near El Rito and Vallecitos  (Rio Arriba County).
• La Jara and Apache Prescribed Fire (1,860 acres) as early as Oct. 7 near Angel Fire, Taos Pines and Valle Escondido.
• Mesa Juan Domingo Prescribed Fire (2,034 acres) as early as Oct. 9 near Canjilon and Placita Garcia.

The exact day of ignitions will depend on wind, weather and fuel moisture conditions. If unfavorable, fire managers will postpone work.

Crews will also remain on scene of the American Creek Prescribed Fire, where they are patrolling and monitoring 950 acres that were treated this past week near Tres Piedras.

Method

Each of these fires are understory burns, which mimics fire’s natural role in vegetation communities where it is frequent and low intensity. Crews apply fire broadly throughout an area under the forest canopy where grasses, leaf litter, fallen and dried pine needles, downed branches, brush and occasional single or clusters of trees are burned.

The optimal conditions to burn these fuels are a balance, when the ground and fuels are not too wet and not too dry. Fire managers must find those conditions while matching it with weather and other prescription parameters, such as forecasted smoke dispersal.

Once ignitions are completed, crews will begin a long-term patrol and monitor plan until the fire is called out.

Smoke

Unlike large wildfires, prescribed fires are short-term in duration and planned with advance notice. Staff coordinate with the New Mexico Environment Department to conduct ignitions on days when smoke impacts are minimized. 

Nonetheless, smoke will be present and may settle in some local or farther out areas in the evenings and overnight.

Taking care of your health is important as smoke can affect everyone. And preparing for prescribed fire helps you become smoke-ready for wildfires, when smoke abruptly shows up and can last longer. Smoke-ready tips are available online.

Fire History and Behavior

Over the last century, forested areas have departed from conditions suitable for a healthy and vibrant ecosystem. This is especially true in frequent fire forest types, such as ponderosa and dry mixed conifer, where stands are unnaturally dense and lacking recent fire history.

If a future wildfire reaches the area after prescribed fire treatments are completed, the fire behavior will likely be modified to a less intense, more manageable surface fire.

Recent Success

Firefighters on the nearby 2022 Midnight Fire saw its behavior change from severe to light in a manner of minutes when it entered an area that was 

• previously thinned,
• treated with prescribed fire (pile burning)
• and burned during the lightning-caused Francisquito Fire, which crews managed so it could play its natural role in the ecosystem.

“It went from 100- to 300-foot flames to 2- to 3-foot flames in a matter of minutes just because of the fuel treatments there,” said firefighter Chris Farrar in a short documentary about the Midnight Fire.

Get More Information and Stay Updated

A new section of the Carson National Forest website offers more in-depth information about prescribed fires, including smoke readiness, fire ecology and how staff are approaching projects differently after the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.

Operational updates for each prescribed fire will be posted on InciWeb (La Jara/Apache, Sotano, Mesa Juan Domingo). The public can also get notifications by email, social media and at New Mexico Fire Information.