Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
By JOHN ARNOLD
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
A fire burning along a mesa top in Bandelier National Monument appears to have had minimal impact on nearby archaeological and culture resources.
The 125-acre Capulin Fire, which was 75 percent to 80 percent contained Monday afternoon, was burning piñon, juniper and grasslands between Capulin and Alamo canyons in the Jemez Mountains, said Bandelier spokeswoman Lynne Dominy.
She said fuels on the rugged terrain were “pretty scattered,” making for a fairly lowintensity fire. A Bandelier archaeologist surveyed the fire Monday and could find little impact to archaeological sites on and beneath the ground, Dominy said.
“If (the fire) had to be in a place, this mesa was a good one,” Dominy said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Bandelier’s backcountry is closed to the public, while the front country — the area around the monument entrance off N.M. 4 — remains open.
Overnight weather conditions helped firefighters make significant progress between Sunday and Monday, said Lawrence Lujan, a fire information officer with the Santa Fe National Forest.
The area received rain on Monday, and the fire did not grow much even as winds picked up in the afternoon, he added.
“The cooler temperatures really assisted us in taking it up to 80 percent containment,” Lujan said.
The Capulin Fire was one of several burning across the state Monday.
In northeastern New Mexico, firefighters worked to keep a 300-acre wildfire from damaging power lines that feed the city of Raton.
The Brilliant 2 Fire, one of two blazes burning on media mogul Ted Turner’s Vermejo Park Ranch, was 5 percent contained Monday afternoon, said state Forestry Division spokesman Dan Ware. Forestry officials said they think lightning sparked the fires.
Cooler temperatures and rising humidity levels aided firefighters overnight Sunday, as they built lines on the fire’s eastern flank.
But as winds picked up Monday afternoon, crews continued to be concerned about power lines a few miles east of the fire, he said.
“If the winds start gusting, and this fire makes a run, anything’s possible,” Ware said. “We don’t want to strike fear into the residents of Raton, but that’s one of our big areas of concern.”
The Chimney Fire, also west of Raton, had burned more than 100 acres and was 30 percent contained. Two smaller fires on Vermejo Park Ranch — the 50-acre Sawmill Fire and the halfacre Bruggaman Fire — were 100 percent contained, Ware said.
A 600-acre fire in Union County near Folsom was also 100 percent contained.