By Polly Summar
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
Residents of Santa Fe’s Sol y Lomas neighborhood got a scare Wednesday when a three-acre fire broke out about 12:45 p.m.
While the 25-foot flames threatened seven homes in the affluent neighborhood - most along West Zia Road, bordered by General Sage Drive and Calle Colibri — none was burned, said Chris Rivera, who has been on the job as the city fire chief just six weeks.
“We lost two sheds,” he said, adding that the fire also burned the wooden posts on a metal fence.
Smoke from the flames was visible throughout Santa Fe — and as far away as N.M. 599 — and hung low among the piñon and other trees throughout the neighborhood, where the homes are built on large lots.
On Wednesday evening, Rivera said his investigator was still in the neighborhood trying to determine the fire’s cause. But he attributed its rapid spread to seasonal conditions: grass that came in thick this year because it was nurtured by last year’s rain, 20- to 30-mph gusts of wind, and juniper and piñon foliage that caught fire.
By 2 p.m., firefighters had the fire under control, with some 20 vehicles and 40 personnel from a multiagency effort responding.
“A couple of years ago, we developed a plan in the event of wildland emergency that we would all work together,” Rivera said, “so we put the plan into effect today, which meant we were able to call today for additional resources if the fire was too big for us to handle — initially we thought it was, there was so much smoke.”
Volunteers and trucks came from the Hondo, La Cienega and Eldorado fire departments, as well as from Santa Fe County, the Santa Fe Police Department, the Red Cross, PNM, the U.S. Forest Service and the state Department of Public Safety.
“One of our brand-new vehicles, a Quint, was able to save a house,” Rivera said of a truck that parked itself in a driveway between a house and the fire. “He was one of the first units on the scene. It was a little bit gutsy. If things had gone a different direction, it may not have been a smart move, but it worked out well. Unfortunately, we have to make those decisions all the time.”
Neighbors who live along Calle Tecolote, north across an arroyo from the fire scene, watched firefighters scurry to douse flames on the ground and in trees amid the heavy smoke.
“I was in the bathroom when my wife says, ‘Come on out, I think the house is on fire,’” local resident J.R. Archibeque said.
He said he heard “a pop” or small explosion as the fire started and there soon were huge billows of black smoke “like when you burn old tires.”
The flames charred plants nearly to the bottom of the arroyo, which residents noted had provided something of a fire break.
Piles of dried tree trimmings along the arroyo could have provided fuel for the fire to spread had it not been brought quickly under control.
As the firefighters used hoses, foam and shovels to fight the fire, a woman in shorts stood nearby using a garden hose to water down a smoldering area under a tree.
Anthony Garcia, 13, had run down Zia Road to his greatgrandparents’ house across from the fire when he first heard the ambulance.
“My grandma’s been in and out of the hospital lately,” Garcia said, “but then I saw the smoke across the street.
“My friend lives over there,” said Garcia, pointing to a house with smoke around it. “I hope he’s OK.”
In fact, his friend, Patrick Ives, had seen the smoke and flames out his window while he was playing video games - “From Russia With Love 007" - inside with a friend.
“I ran and told my sister to call 911, and I went and got the fire extinguisher and went outside.”
Fire chief Rivera confirmed Wednesday it was teenagers home alone who reported the fire.
Kathleen Hilley, left, Santa Fe police officer Paul Castillo and Olin Brown use garden hoses to help residents battle a brush fire near homes along General Sage Drive on Wednesday.