Single Publication

As fire activity decreases, crews focus on repair 

Daily Update – Wednesday, June 5, 2024 

Acres: 11,500  

Start Date: May 19, 2024 

Location: 7 miles north of the village of Coyote, NM 

Personnel: 564 

Completion: 66%  

Fuels: Timber 

Highlights: After continued efforts by firefighters, the Indios Fire remains at 11,500 acres. Firefighters have started to conduct suppression repair around the footprint of the fire, cleaning up and repairing disturbances from firefighting activities.  

Operations: As fire activity continues to decrease, crews are focusing on repairing impacts from fire management activities across the fire area. Yesterday, on the northwest area of the fire, prep work consisted of hand cutting “ladder fuels” including branches and limbs of trees that could potentially carry fire from the ground to the canopies. Firefighters are continuing chipping operations along Forest Roads 169E and 64A to reduce the vegetation that was previously cut by fire crews. An uncrewed aircraft system, or drone, flew over the western portion of the fire along Forest Road 64 and identified a few isolated pockets of heat within the perimeter. Following this discovery, crews were sent in to locate and extinguish these hot spots. On Forest Road 77, crews continued to use machinery to cut vegetation into small wood chips and “mop up” burning material near control lines. These activities also included felling fire-damaged trees and cooling ash pits to ensure no heat remains. Along the eastern edge of the fire, crews continue to patrol and secure the perimeter. Water support crews assisted the ground crews with dust abatement and backhauled one of the 10,000-gallon portable water tanks that was no longer needed due to decreased fire activity. As firefighters complete chipping activities around the fire, crews will shift to areas where resources are most needed. 

Weather: Strong high pressure will start to build over New Mexico today with much warmer temperatures through Saturday. Surface moisture will decrease through Thursday and then increase. Mid-level moisture will begin to increase Thursday with increasing chances for showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. Strong gusty outflow winds are possible near any storms. 

Smoke: Visible smoke is diminishing in the area as fire activity decreases. Smoke monitors have been installed in Coyote, Gallina, Cañones, the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, and the Abiquiu Dam. A smoke outlook report for the Indios Fire is available online at the links below. View an interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/. Learn more about smoke impacts at https://www.env.nm.gov/air-quality/fire-smoke-links/.  

Closures: The Santa Fe National Forest has issued an emergency area closure for the Indios Fire. The full closure order (No. 03-12-05-23-22) and map are available on Inciweb. Camping and water will be available at the Coyote Ranger Station for Continental Divide Trail hikers impacted by this closure.  

Safety: A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in place over the area, which includes uncrewed aircraft systems or drones. More information on the dangers drones pose to wildland firefighting aircraft and personnel on the ground can be found at: https://uas.nifc.gov/. 

nmsnf-indios-wildfire / nmfireinfo.com /575-323-2290 / x.com/SantafeNF / facebook.com/santafeNF / 2024.indios@firenet.gov