Wildfire slows in Pecos Wilderness as flooding threat rises from thunderstorms

Jun. 16—Flames from New Mexico's largest wildfire made a two-day, 11-mile run early this week in the Pecos Wilderness, adding about 15,000 acres to the already massive burn area and sending up an alarming column of smoke.

The new growth of the now 335,069-acre Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in rugged mountain terrain packed with dry fuel is a reminder of the weeks of work ahead for wildland firefighters who have been battling it for more than two months.

"It's putting on a heck of a show," said Jayson Coil, an operations section chief for one of the incident management teams assigned to the blaze, "... but it's not threatening our lines."

Heath Barker, another operations section chief, said "no real values were threatened" as the blaze made its run to the northeast, meaning there were no homes or infrastructure in its path. The fire management officials said the blaze started to slow Wednesday as it began backing downhill in wilderness areas and will continue to slow as more moderate weather arrives this week, including higher humidity and what could be four days of rain. While the moisture will help cool the blaze, it presents daunting new challenges — flash flooding and what incident commander Carl Schwope described as "catastrophic debris flows."

Phoebe Suina of Cochiti Pueblo, with the environmental consulting firm High Water Mark LLC, joined fire managers in a Wednesday evening briefing to discuss the dangers of post-fire flooding. She has been conducting work in the field since the Cerro Grande Fire scorched Los Alamos in the 2000, she said.

Suina provided shocking images of roads and flood plains wrecked by fast-moving waters carrying trees, boulders and other debris in Jemez Mountains canyons charred by the Cerro Grande and Las Conchas fires. She warned residents — especially those in low-lying areas of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon burn scar — to prepare for the worst.

Be aware of rain, even if might be falling miles away, she said. Identify nearby high points and escape routes.

And plan for roads to become impassable.

"Within minutes, the whole flood plain can be inundated," Suina said.

San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Lopez spoke about preparations for evacuation warning systems. Floods, unlike fires, leave little time to flee, he said.

He urged residents to listen for National Weather Service alerts on their radios and to sign up for county cellphone alerts.

The evening briefing followed news from New Mexico's congressional delegates the U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to cover all costs of debris removal and other efforts to address watershed protection and repairs to prevent flooding in fire-damaged areas — not only in communities devastated by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire but also those struck by the Cooks Peak, McBride and Nogal blazes.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., said in an interview Wednesday the USDA's Emergency Watershed Protection Program normally requires a 25 percent local cost share, but the agency's Natural Resources Conservation Service initially had agreed to reduce it to 10 percent. "I have been working for the last [several] weeks trying to figure out how to get that cost share paid," she said. "I've been talking to philanthropies, to the state, but the easiest way to do this is to have the federal government agree that it will pay 100 percent of that cost of doing the work."

Leger Fernández said she brought up the issue with President Joe Biden when he visited Santa Fe on Saturday to receive a briefing on the fires.

"He said, 'I didn't know about that. We'll look into it,' " Leger Fernández said, adding she followed up with "key people" in the administration.

"We're really happy about this, that they've agreed to that," she said. I think this is an example of what happens when you get a president and the top officials in the room. They can make quick decisions."

Efforts to prevent flooding require immediate action, Leger Fernández said.

"I've been to the burn scars," said Leger Fernández, a former acequia commissioner. "I've driven around with the Mora commissioners. I know what it looks like, and I know my gente. I know that we don't have that money there."

The wildfire was ignited by two prescribed burns conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, sparking outrage among residents struggling to receive emergency federal aid. Biden brought welcome news Saturday that the federal government will cover 100 percent of the emergency response and recovery efforts for communities in the burn zone. Additionally, the state's congressional delegates have introduced a bill that, if passed, would create a disaster fund to help individual fire victims recover from the blaze. As concerns turn more fully to flash flooding in the days ahead, Coil said residents will continue to see growth on the fire's western side.

"The fire will continue to move in the Pecos Wilderness to the west," he said. "We're going to keep doing our work until the monsoons are in full swing."

Coil, an assistant fire chief in the Sedona Fire District in Arizona, added, "I get that it's concerning."

His home lies just two miles from a wildfire burning near Flagstaff.

Meanwhile, crews attacking the Midnight Fire near El Rito have begun to gain containment. The fire, at 4,905 acres, was 12 percent contained early Wednesday, with 382 personnel deployed to fight it — many who previously had been assigned to the larger wildfire. In the Wednesday evening briefing, Coil offered more good news: "We have line all the way around the Midnight Fire, and they're holding," he said.

Staff writer Daniel J. Chacón contributed to this report.