Large Scale Central

Dog Head Fire, New Mexico

General Discussion
#1

For those who have inquired, Boomer is alive and still un-charred in New Mexico. Thank you all for the e-mails.

The Dog Head fire is burning about 18 miles south of here so we are getting a lot of smoke and ash but are in no immediate danger. The Governor has declared a state of emergency to release additional fire fighting assets. Mandatory evacuation for the villages of Chilili and Tajique have been put into effect as of last night. Several homes have been burned in that area. An unknown number of people who live in the area are unaccounted for including a group of ranchers who disappeared yesterday morning while trying to remove livestock. The fire is relatively small by NM standards just crossing the 2K acre mark but it is in very rugged terrain. As of this morning it is 0% contained and is being fought mostly by air tanker due to the remote location. It crossed the second highway last night and is moving into the Cibola National Forest and along HWY 337. There are several rocky ridges and open meadows between it and Edgewood. The ground also flattens out some making firefighting easier.

The weather forecast is for hot and dry with increasing wind but as of yet Carlene the kitties and myself are not expecting to have to evacuate. We will see how it shapes up today. For now the Cibola Lumber and Mining Company is still more in danger of filing bankruptcy than of going up in flames.

Here is pic of the plume taken from my driveway Wednesday afternoon.

God Bless our wild-land firefighters and watch over them!

#2

Hope you and yours weather that fire. Best of luck.

#3

and so it begins. Stay safe boomer.

#4

how i hate the smell of fire…

been an active firefighter for 9 years.

good luck, Boomer. 18 miles gives you some days of safety distance.

#5

Stay safe Boomer, we don’t want to lose you again.

Chuck

#6

Hmmm not looking so good for the home team as of 12:30.

The fire has grown to over 12,000 acres since this morning. The villages of Yrisarri and Escobosa have been added to the list of mandatory evacuations. Southern Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties have issued air quality and fire alerts. High winds are shifting from West to East to a West to North East direction. This puts us directly downwind. The leading edge of the fire is now within 12 miles of Edgewood. It is moving into more open land where fighting it is easier but it is also much more populated as it approaches the I-40 corridor. Over 700 fire fighters are now on the ground.

Juan Thomas Road and AO 99 are the last good fire lines since they are paved and wide. If the fire breaks out of there it will be within 5 miles of the house. That will be the signal to leave regardless of fire fighting efforts. Waiting to see how things go this afternoon but may start loading the trailer if no good news is forthcoming.

Worst case here is probably a burn over of the grass and low vegetation as the trees are widely spaced and I and all my neighbors have kept them trimmed for the past decade per Forestry recommendations. I would not expect the house or garage to burn as they are both stucco covered with metal roofs and no dry vegetation nearby. Most likely damage the track…which is horrible since I hate laying track. I am mostly concerned about my neighbors along the far side of the street as their homes back up to a 25 acre heavily wooded lot that has had no management. Even though their construction is the same as mine they are in a much more precarious position.

Even with the local media sensationalizing it this looks like a serious fire to me. Pics from this mornings news:

God Bless those fire-dogs on the front line.

#7

You are in my thoughts and prayers, be safe. We can always relay more track, but there’s only one of you!

John

#8

Damn Boomer! Glad you’re prepped and ready and keeping a close eye on things. Yes serious and they can jump quick. Keep you and Mrs. Boomer safe buddy. Thoughts are with you and yours

#9

Dam not good

#10

Boomer; Wishing you the best of luck. Keep Mrs Boomer and the kitties safe, and yourself, too. Caveman doesn’t look good toasted.

Ben

#11

Can you set a sprinkler and give the layout a good dousing. Maybe even leave it on if you have to abandon ship.

#12

Devon Sinsley said:

Can you set a sprinkler and give the layout a good dousing. Maybe even leave it on if you have to abandon ship.

if it is a real wildfire, the wetness of some hours worth of sprinkling evaporates in seconds. then the sprinkler heads melt.

imagine every neighbour opens his sprinklers… … and the melted heads leave the pipes open.

worst case - the firefighters have to find ponds and creeks for recharging. loosing much time on the fireline.

#13

Boomer, you keep you and the family safe. Looks like you’ve planned about as well for this situation as you can. The railroad can be rebuilt. You are in our prayers.

#14

Be careful Boomer and keep you eyes open. Fires in that location have jumped I-40 before. Will be thinking about you.

#15

Friday Morning.

The Dog Head fire is now 16K acres. It is still 0% contained. Twenty four homes have been destroyed along with twenty one other structures. There are no injuries reported and the missing ranchers have been located and evacuated thanks to the Torrance county Sheriffs Department. The Governor has put the National Guard on standby with one unit (40 personnel) activated to assist in evacuations. The fire has been upgraded to a Type 1 Incident. FEMA funding was approved and Hot Shot crews along with other assets from Colorado, Arizona and North and South Dakota arrived late yesterday.

Overnight winds moved the fire easterly keeping it about the same distance from us. This morning it is once again creeping north. Evacuations now include the housing areas of Mercid and Ponderosa Pines as far north as the intersection of 217 and 337 (3 miles from Juan Thomas road). This includes the southern tip of Bernalilo county. The fire has overrun the village of Chilili, damage is unknown.

Wind forecasts are expected to improve by this afternoon as it shifts from west to east over to north west to south east. This will give us some relief from the smoke and push the fire back on itself along the western edge. Temperatures are expected to rise into the 90+ range with humidity in the single digits through the weekend. Air quality alerts cover most of central New Mexico.

If you watched the train videos I posted yesterday the guy in the black shirt (triple head video) is a NMGRR member. He lives in the Ponderosa Pine area. I have not heard from him as to if he has evacuated.

The sky is clear this morning with just a little haze as light wind and a slight inversion dispersed the smoke more to the south. It is now returning. I was able to open the house up and get some fresh air from about 5:00 am until almost 8:00. Here is the plume yesterday evening about 7:00 pm…

Here it is how it looked this morning about 8:00 am. If it weren’t for the slight haze and the smell of smoke you wouldn’t even know there was anything happening.

God Bless our wild-land fire fighters and keep them safe.

#16

That’s a good point Korm. I hadn’t thought about that. I know that many homes are saved by watering the roof but that is a much different thing than watering the layout and really is only prevent sparks from igniting the the roof and would do noting for the main fire itself. While I would not call myself a fire fighter by no means I did get the opportunity to fight a few in my Forest Service days. Two were pretty large fires. And Your right a sprinkler would not stop them. I guess my thinking was more to prevent spot fires. But your point is valid. As a water guy I should have understood that.

#17

Yikes! Scary stuff. I’m glad you seem to be in the clear, at least for now.

#18

As of noon we have received some encouraging news. The 24 homes destroyed were on the outskirts of Chilili and that the fire has not reached the village itself. Fire fighters are holding the fire at HWY 337 on the East side but it is extending north to Escobosa. That puts it almost straight south of Edgewood about 10 miles away. If the fire fighters can hold it there through tonight they could get significant containment by tomorrow. God Bless the country that has heroes.

Spread of the fire has slowed gaining less than 1K acres since early morning. Winds are picking up and the plume is heading back our way. Still hoping for the wind shift out of the north west later today.

The kitties have been agitated for the last two days but seem to be relaxing with the decreased smoke this morning. As you can see from the pic below they are not worried, especially Topaz. Not surprising given that she is Hell spawn and in league with the devil.

#19

hope they put it out with no more building or structures loast. Keep us updated

#20

Saturday evening.

Just got back from evacuating NMGRR member’s belongings in the Ponderosa Pines / Estates area. Trains were the first load of course. He is still there awaiting the mandatory order to leave and watching the skyline. Could come tonight or tomorrow unless something changes.

Two more Hotshot crews have arrived and more national guard has been activated to prevent looting (because some people are dirt-bags).

The fire has grown to 17,600 acres along a 29 mile front. Fire fighters have worked the western edge by hand-line all day with dozers and graders on the south end. They are claiming 5% containment. North and east edges are still creeping forward in light winds. Hot spots have crossed HWY 337 and are being worked as they appear.

Winds are expected to increase tomorrow along with some humidity moving in from the south. Smokey and hazy again this evening.

God Bless the boys and girls who grew up dreaming of being firefighters.