Info Office Hours: 8 am - 8 pm      Phone: 505-312-4593

Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov 

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantafeNF 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire 

Info Office Hours: 8 am - 8 pm      Phone: 505-312-4593

Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov 

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantafeNF 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire 
 
 

Acreage: 45,605 acres
Containment: 75%
Total Personnel: 633 total personnel

Info Office Hours: 8 am - 8 pm      Phone: 505-312-4593

Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov 

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantafeNF 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire 

Acreage: 45,605 acres
Containment: 75%
Total Personnel: 654 total personnel

The Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team #3 assumed command of the Cerro Pelado Fire at 7 am.
   
- Updated Forest closures: Santa Fe, Carson and Cibola National Forests have implemented closures due to extreme fire danger effective Thursday, May 19th at 8am
- Hwy 4 is open to local traffic only. Please drive carefully through the area as there are still fire crews in the area
- Back-to-back Red Flag Fire warning days beginning today at 12pm for high temps, strong winds and low relative humidity values  

WEATHER AND FIRE BEHAVIOR: Today will be a critical fire weather day with a Red Flag Warning in effect from 12 pm until 10 pm due to gusty winds and extremely low relative humidity. The Red Flag Warning will continue into Friday.  High temps near 80 degrees and west-southwest winds of 20mph gusting to 40mph.  Fuels remain extremely dry with no relief in sight.  

FIRE OPERATIONS: Fire crews finished constructing handline on the north side of the fire near the communications towers on Los Griegos Mountain and Forest Road (FR) 271. Crews will establish hose lines to extinguish hot spots. On the northeast side of the fire, crews will continue to locate and extinguish areas of heat near Frijoles Canyon. Crews will continue to assess areas along Hwy 4 for suppression repairs.   Crews continue to work in the rugged areas near Alamo and lower Peralta Canyons to locate and extinguish areas of heat that have been identified during infrared(IR) flights. Helicopters are available to assist the crews with water drops in these areas. Containment lines along the south and western side of the fire continue to hold and crews are working on chipping and removing unnecessary equipment.    

CLOSURES: Santa Fe National Forest Closure order: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/santafe/alerts-notices Carson National Forest Closure order:  https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/carson/alerts-notices Cibola National Forest Closure order: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/cibola/alerts-notices

Cerro Pelado Fire Daily Update

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

WEATHER AND FIRE BEHAVIOR: Today moderate westerly and terrain driven winds are expected, and temperatures over the fire area will rise to around 80°F. Relative humidity will drop into the single digits again in the afternoon, and the probability of ignition will be very high, similar to the past few days. It’s been 47 days since any measurable rain, and fuels at all elevations are incredibly dry and unstable across the region. Increasing southwest winds will cause worsening fire weather conditions later in the week. Yesterday the fire did not grow, and it stayed within containment lines. There are pockets of heat within the fire perimeter, where fire activity is limited to smoldering and creeping through ground fuels, and occasionally a single tree will torch far inside containment lines. The fire is almost entirely surrounded by direct containment lines, so minimal fire activity is expected again today.

FIRE OPERATIONS: The north side of the fire is the most active, and today crews are planning to create containment line directly on the fire edge near the communications towers on Los Griegos Mountain. Crews will reinforce contingency line they have been constructing along Forest Road (FR) 271. Engine and hand crews will also be looking to reinforce containment lines along FR 280 and in the upper Peralta Canyon area where backing fire continues to slowly progress down the hill to the north. Crews may perform limited tactical firing operations to burn out areas of fuel and reinforce the containment lines in this area. Although diminishing every day, pockets of smoldering fire continue to produce smoke inside of containment lines in forested areas that were not burned in previous fires. Helicopters and the two scooper planes will continue to support crews on the ground as needed. Engine crews continue to patrol burned areas near structures in the upper Peralta Canyon Area, but they have not found much heat for several days. Saw teams and heavy equipment crews continue to clear hazard trees, perform fuels reduction, and chip up large brush piles along Highway 4, which is still being used heavily by firefighting traffic.

Fire activity remains quiet on the other sides of the fire, with very little smoke visible anywhere throughout the day. Firefighters continue to patrol containment lines around the fire searching for wisps of smoke and hidden areas of smoldering heat. On contained lines across the fire, crews are rolling up hoses, chipping up large piles of slash, and backhauling suppression equipment that is no longer needed. Today, hand crews on foot are patrolling the remote fire edge on Cochiti Mesa and the lower Paralta Canyon areas north of Cochiti Pueblo, where they are searching for and extinguishing small pockets of heat. On the western side of the fire, crews continue to patrol and monitor containment lines along the Bear Springs Road (FR 266), and they are working further inward from the fire edge using hand tools and water to mop up areas of heat in the Hondo Canyon Area.

CLOSURES:

Highway 4 closed from mile marker 34 to mile marker 50: https://bit.ly/NM-Roads The Santa Fe National Forest has closed the Cerro Pelado Fire Area (closure order) and Fire Base Camp along Forest Road 376 (closure order).
Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve remains closed.

For more closure information, go to the Santa Fe National Forest Website at

https://bit.ly/SantaFeNF- Closures

Great Basin Incident Management Team 1

Information Phone Line:

505-312-4593

Email:

2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov

InciWeb:

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/

Facebook: https:/facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire Twitter: https:/twitter.com/SantafeNF

The Great Basin IMT 1 continues to communicate with tribal representatives, community leaders, private cooperators, and Los Alamos National Laboratory staff to coordinate firefighting resources, protect structures, and keep community members safe.

Air Quality: Information on air quality is at New Mexico Department of Health Environmental Public Health Tracking: https://nmtracking.org/fire , and an interactive smoke map is available at https://fire.airnow.gov/.

Fire Restrictions Stage II Fire Restrictions are in effect for the Santa Fe National Forest, which prohibits all campfires and other hazardous activities. Due to ongoing fire threats, Sandoval County will not issue burn permits. Stage III Fire Restrictions are in effect for Cochiti Pueblo.

Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR). There is a flight restriction over the fire area and drones are also prohibited. https://bit.ly/Flight- Restrictions

INCIDENT STATISTICS: CurrentSize:45,605 Acres Current Containment: 71% Start Date: April 22, 2022 Cause: Unknown

Total personnel: 936

Community meeting at 5:30 this evening at Los Alamos High School. Also available virtually on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85125009104. See full announcement here.

Weather and Fire Behavior: Firefighters welcomed clouds and higher relative humidity. As the cloud cover burns off in the late morning, temperatures will top out a few degrees lower than yesterday’s near record highs. Relative humidity values will drop back into the mid-teens, and gusty winds from the southeast in the morning will switch to the southwest in the afternoon. These winds could be problematic in the northwestern corner of the fire, where isolated interior pockets of heat linger in heavier fuels in areas. There is a chance of dry thunderstorms in the afternoon to the east of the fire, which could cause unpredictable outflow winds. Yesterday, the fire stayed within containment lines, and there was very little growth where the fire is active. The fire is smoldering and creeping through ground fuels with occasional single tree torching far inside containment lines.

Today's Operations: Yesterday, a fixed wing incursion over the fire caused air attack to order a complete shutdown of all air operations, significantly slowing the progress of fire suppression work being performed. Any use of aircraft is prohibited per Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR). As containment increases on the Cerro Pelado Fire, fire managers are reassigning heavy machinery, engines, and hotshot crews to other fires where they are needed more. Most containment lines around the fire are now directly on the fire edge, and without fuel to burn, fire activity is minimal. Firefighters are patrolling containment lines around the fire searching for wisps of smoke and hidden areas of smoldering heat.

Crews are working to secure areas where the fire is burning in steep terrain near the communications towers on Los Griegos Mountain in the northwest corner of the fire. Pockets of interior fire activity remain a threat in the Paralta Ridge, Cerro Pelado Mountain, and Paliza Canyon areas. Helicopters and the two scooper planes will continue to support crews on the ground, providing eyes in the sky and shuttling loads of water to cool hot spots and reinforce containment lines. Crews are using direct suppression tactics where they can safely work next to the fire. Today, crews work on containment lines on Forest Road (FR) 271a, using heavy equipment and hand crews. This area’s threat is fire weakened hazard trees, which experienced saw teams must remove before crews can engage the fire safely. Engine crews will patrol burned areas near structures off FR 280 using water to extinguish any pockets of heat that they find. Saw teams and heavy equipment crews continue to clear hazard trees, perform fuels reduction, and chip up large brush piles along Highway 4. Highway 4 remains closed from mile marker 34 to 61 to prove a safe operational environment for equipment.

Hotshot crews on foot are patrolling the remote fire edge in the Cochiti Mesa area where the fire appears to be hung up in difficult to access rocky terrain with sparse fuels, though it hasn’t moved or shown much smoke in several days. Hand crews are also hiking into the remote fire edge on the south side of the fire, patrolling direct handlines and extinguishing areas of interior heat in lower Peralta Canyon, north of Cochiti Pueblo. Crews on FR 266 are working further inward from the fire edge using hand tools and water to mop up areas in the Hondo Canyon Area.

Closures: Visit the Santa Fe National Forest Website at https://bit.ly/SantaFeNF- Closures for a listing.

Contact Us:
Great Basin Incident Management Team 1
Information Phone Line:  505-312-4593
Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov
InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/
Facebook: https:/facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire
Twitter: https:/twitter.com/SantafeNF

The Great Basin IMT 1 continues to communicate with tribal representatives, community leaders, private cooperators, and Los Alamos National Laboratory staff to coordinate firefighting resources, protect structures, and keep community members safe.

Air Quality: Information on air quality is at New Mexico Department of Health Environmental Public Health Tracking: https://nmtracking.org/fire , and an interactive smoke map is available at https://fire.airnow.gov/.

Fire Restrictions: Stage II Fire Restrictions are in effect for the Santa Fe National Forest, which prohibits all campfires and other hazardous activities. Due to ongoing fire threats, Sandoval County will not issue burn permits. Stage III Fire Restrictions are in effect for Cochiti Pueblo.

Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR): There is a flight restriction over the fire area and drones are also prohibited. https://bit.ly/Flight- Restrictions

Incident Statistics:
Current Size: 45,605 Acres
Current Containment: 62%
Start Date: April 22, 2022
Cause: Unknown
Total current personnel: 1,001

Info Office Hours: 8 am - 8 pm      Phone: 505-312-4593 and 303-918-4004      

Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov 

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantafeNF 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire 

Acreage: 45,602 acres
Containment: 40%
Total Personnel: 1,078 total personnel


PUBLIC MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT: Monday, May 16, 2022, located at the Los Alamos High School at 5:30 pm. The Zoom link for the meeting can be found here.

Info Office Hours: 8 am - 8 pm      Phone: 505-312-4593 and 303-918-4004      

Email: 2022.CerroPelado@firenet.gov 

InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8075/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SantafeNF 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2022.Cerropeladofire 

Acreage: 45,591 acres

Containment: 23%

Total Personnel: 1,018 total personnel

Weather and Fire Behavior: Firefighters expect a repeat of yesterday’s weather today, with moderate terrain influenced winds and near record heat this weekend. Single digit relative humidity values are expected, and extremely dry and receptive fuels will again lead to very high probability of ignition. Significant fire growth is unlikely since afternoon breezes will probably not be strong enough to blow embers from torching trees very far over containment lines. Yesterday the fire stayed for the most part within its footprint, held in check by containment lines and close to a thousand firefighters, holding, monitoring, and patrolling containment lines night and day. Although it appears that firefighters have the upper hand, the Cerro Pelado Fire is certainly not done yet, and our plan is to stay focused and diligent.

Today’s Operations: Interior fire activity increased slightly yesterday in the Peralta Ridge and Paliza Canyon areas. Crews continue to monitor pockets of active fire burning in steep terrain threatened by hazard trees near the communications towers on Los Griegos Mountain and will continue looking for opportunities to safely engage the fire directly. Helicopters and fixed winged scooper planes will continue to support crews on the ground, shuttling loads of water to cool hot spots and reinforce containment lines. No structures in the area are at risk, and crews continue to patrol burned areas near them, using water to extinguish any pockets of heat that they find. Crews with chainsaws and heavy equipment will continue to improve fire line along Highway 4 by performing fuel reduction.

Crews performed tactical burning operations in Spruce Canyon and Pine Canyon at night when fire burns less intensely, to strengthen and clean up containment lines along Forest Road (FR) 289 in the northwest corner of the fire. Firefighters are successfully holding the fire that had become established in Alamo Canyon on its east rim, utilizing FR 287, the old Dome Lookout Road, as a containment line. A hotshot crew is working in the bottom of the canyon, keeping the fire from working down to the southeast. In the east perimeter, several hand and engine crews are in the area again today, patrolling and monitoring the containment lines, and using water to extinguish areas of heat found near the fire edge to hold the fire at Obsidian Ridge.

The east flank of the fire on Cochiti Mesa has not progressed much due to rocky terrain with sparse fuels and is producing little smoke. A hand crew was able to make the long hike up into Peralta Canyon, north of Cochiti Pueblo, where they’ve made good progress in the past two days containing the fire burning in the canyon bottom. Other crews are assigned to the remote fire edge on the south perimeter, directly engaging the fire. Firefighters are removing ground fuels at the fire’s edge by digging hand line and thoroughly checking stretches of inactive fire line for any lingering heat. On the western side of the fire, hotshot crews successfully performed tactical burning operations early yesterday morning to bring low-intensity fire down to reinforced control lines along FR 266 in the Hondo Canyon and Bear Springs areas. Hand and engine crews will continue to secure, strengthen, and patrol the western control line, working further inward from the fire edge using hand tools and water to mop up areas of heat.

CLOSURES:

• Highway 4 closed from mile marker 34 to mile marker 50. The most updated road closure information can be found here: https://bit.ly/NM-Roads

•  The Santa Fe National Forest has closed the Cerro Pelado Fire Area (closure order) and Fire Base Camp along Forest Road 376 (closure order).

• Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve remain closed until further notice.

The Great Basin IMT 1 continues to communicate with tribal representatives, community leaders, private cooperators, and Los Alamos National Laboratory staff to coordinate firefighting resources, protect structures, and keep community members safe.

Air quality: Information on air quality is at New Mexico Department of Health Environmental Public Health Tracking: https://nmtracking.org/fire , and an interactive smoke map is available at https://fire.airnow.gov/.

Fire Restrictions: Stage II Fire Restrictions are in effect for the Santa Fe National Forest, which prohibits all campfires and other hazardous activities. Due to ongoing fire threats, Sandoval County will not issue burn permits. Stage III Fire Restrictions are in effect for Cochiti Pueblo. 

Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR): There is a flight restriction over the fire area and drones are also prohibited. Click Here for more information.