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SANTA FE, NM, Aug. 8, 2023 – Firefighters are preparing Forest Road 103 as a possible containment line by clearing brush and removing limbs. Fire managers will survey the wilderness area for natural containment features to link to roads and fire lines. Firefighters are also implementing structure protection to protect private property and other infrastructure. As firefighters work, fire managers plan to keep the fire to as small a footprint as possible, minimizing damage to the wilderness, wildlife, and agricultural habitat.

Start date:  August 05, 2023       Cause:  Lightning/Natural   Size:  2500 acres   Percent Contained:  0%

Location:  Approximately 9 miles south of Gallina, NM, on the Coyote Ranger District, on the San Pedro Parks Wilderness, near the Peñas Negras Trail.

The Southwest Area Incident Management Team 2 a Type 1 IMT is currently enroute to the fire and will shadow resources today and assume command Wednesday morning. The Northern New Mexico Type 3 Incident Management Team assumed command of the Black Feather Fire at 6:00 am Monday, August 7, 2023. The team is working closely with law enforcement to coordinate the NM Ready, Set, Go evacuation notification system.

Currently, the community of Wetherill is placed in ‘Ready’ status, and the communities of Mesa Pinebetal, and Mesa Poleo are placed in ‘Set’ status. The incident management team and law enforcement have established coordinated trigger points to evacuate communities in a timely manner. The Coyote Senior Center is set up as an evacuation center and livestock can be taken to the Rio Arriba Rural Event Center near Abiquiu. The Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating evacuations. More info is available on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079688263048

The Santa Fe National Forest is finalizing a closure order for the area surrounding the fire. People are strongly discouraged from unnecessary travel on the entire Forest Road 103, which connects NM 96 to NM 126, and people are strongly discouraged from using the continental divide trail along the San Pedro Parks Wilderness section.

A Temporary Flight Restriction is in place around the fire area. Please do not fly drones anywhere near the fire, if you fly, we can’t fly.

With hot, dry, windy weather in the forecast, fire managers are expecting very active fire behavior over the next several days. Air quality information is available at https://www.airnow.gov/

Please check the Santa Fe National Forest website: www.fs.usda.gov/santafe, Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/santafeNF/ and NMfireinfo: NM Fire Info | New Mexico Fire Information.