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Here’s the latest for prescribed fires on the Carson National Forest:

• Crews wrapped up the final acres of ignitions on the 2,365-acre Sotano Prescribed Fire north of El Rito (Rio Arriba County). They’ll begin patrolling and monitoring, which is also occurring on the American Creek Prescribed Fire.
• 106 acres were treated in the La Jara and Apache Prescribed Fire near Angel Fire. Work included completing blackline, which is burning fuels along the control line, at the national forest boundary with the community of Taos Pines.
• Fire managers postponed the Mesa Juan Domingo Prescribed Fire, which was scheduled to begin as early as tomorrow (Oct. 10). They are seeking other opportunities for prescribed fire around the forest.

Highlight

The work on the La Jara and Apache project over the past two days was a critical first step in a complex wildland urban interface area, where the forest boundary meets private property, in one case where structures are just feet from the control line.

Crews focused on blacklining along the prescribed fire unit’s control features aside the boundary. The control line was built over the summe and is an approximately five-foot wide area void of vegetation. Today’s blacklining effort extended a few hundred feet out from that, further reducing fuels like brush and thinned branches. With a blackline completed, crews can treat larger areas with a reduced risk of fire spreading toward the community.

A total of 206 out of 1,860 acres are completed. Fire crews plan to continue ignitions on tomorrow.

Stay Updated 

Residents and visitors are encouraged to keep updated with prescribed fire and other Carson National Forest news by joining the forest news release list, among other options like following on social media and using NMFireInfo.com.

More information about prescribed fires, including smoke-readiness tips, are available online.