By Duane Barbati
The Alamogordo Daily News
DUNKEN, NM — Firefighters continue to be hampered by 50 mph winds in battling the estimated 8,000 acres Bear Grass fire north east of Dunken Thursday, a New Mexico State Forestry spokesman said.
Dan Ware said the Picacho fire was contained Thursday morning.
“We thought we had some good news,” Ware said. “When those winds came up in the mid-afternoon, It caught the fire and took off again.”
He said they brought in a heavy air tanker to make some fire retardant drops.
Ware said he will have fresh crews of firefighters and a management team in place Thursday night.
“It will allow us to bring in a lot more resources,” Ware said. “We have an additional hand crew, more equipment and a prison inmate crew from Los Lunas. They will take over fighting the fire Friday. We’ll have about a 100 firefighters and more equipment on scene.”
Firefighters were called in around 2 p.m. Wednesday at U.S. Highway 82 near Dunken which is between Mayhill and Artesia.
Ware said the fire is moving north east from U.S. Highway 82 from Dunken.
“Crews were trying to contain the fire from going into Eagle Creek Draw,” he said. “The Bear Grass was really thick in Eagle. This fire is burning in open prairie. No structures are being threatened.”
Bear Grass looks like grass, grows to about 4 1/2 feet and belongs to the lily family, similar to the yucca only much smaller. The grass-like leaves grow from the base of the plant and are tough and wiry. The leaves grow to about 35 inches long and looks like a fan.
The flower of the plant can grow about 35 inches long attached to a stalk that can grow to 6 feet.
"(The fire) made it into Eagle Creek,” he said. “They had stopped the forward progress of the fire but it took off again when the winds came up.”
The fire has spread past the containment line set by the ground crews and air tanker, Ware said.
“When the winds blew up, it carried some of the embers over the line,” he said. “It burned another 1000 acres as of about 3 p.m. It has burned more since that time.”
He said wind conditions will play an important factor today.
“The weather is going to make a determination in containing and extinguishing it,” Ware said. “Those local volunteer firefighter resources need a break. They have been going at it for a full day. By bringing in the additional teams, we can let those folks go home and rest.”
He said he believes the cause of the fire will be determined by the investigator soon. An investigator is on the scene and the fire itself is not at the ignition source anymore.
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