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Date Posted: 14:25:56 04/11/01 Wed
Author: Anonymous
Subject: Mescalero Fire

Tuesday, April 10, 2001

Winds Feed Mescalero Wildfire

By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau
Firefighters continued to struggle Monday to control the wind-fanned Turkey Well wildfire that had burned 2,000 acres on the Mescalero Apache reservation within a few hours of its Sunday afternoon start.
Strong winds that gusted up to 60 mph Monday afternoon fed the Turkey Well Fire. The winds started about 3 p.m. Sunday and grounded two air tankers and a water-dropping helicopter that flew on the first day of the firefighting effort, said Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman with the fire management team.
No new estimate of the wildfire's size was calculated after a Monday evening meeting of firefighting officials, but Lightfoot said one would be attempted today using global positioning satellite systems.
''We'll get a better estimate at that time,'' Lightfoot said.
The more than 400 firefighters deployed to fight the Turkey Well Fire burning on the 460,000-acre Mescalero Apache reservation, about 20 miles southwest of Ruidoso, used bulldozers and shovels to dig a brush-free perimeter around the fire.
A timetable for total containment had not been estimated by late Monday, Lightfoot said. Winds were expected to blow stronger today.
''If they can hold the line (today), they can start talking about when they can call it contained,'' Lightfoot said, adding that four 20-member crews would work the fire's perimeter Monday night. ''The fire is still very active in the interior part where there are lots of big, heavy logs burning.''
Because fire danger is considered extreme, several restrictions were imposed Monday on the reservation. Outside fires, including refuse burning and charcoal fires, are prohibited, along with the use of firearms, fireworks or explosives. Smoking is only be permitted indoors or in vehicles.
In addition, Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers and tribal conservation officers will enforce a restriction against stopping or parking along U.S. 70 and N.M. 244 within the reservation.
The Inn of the Mountain Gods resort, Casino Apache and the Silver Lake campground remained open Monday.
Management of the firefighting effort was turned over to a multiagency team led by the U.S. Forest Service.
The Lincoln National Forest, which surrounds the Mescalero reservation, was not threatened Monday afternoon, said Forest Service spokesman Joe Garcia. Fire danger in the Smokey Bear Ranger District, which covers Ruidoso, was listed as moderate Monday, Garcia said.
The Lincoln National Forest was hard hit by wildfires last year. The Cree Fire — started May 7, 2000, by a 21-year-old Ruidoso man and three teen-agers exploring a cave in Gavilan Canyon — burned 8,650 acres.
Last year's Scott Able Fire started May 11 when part of an aspen tree fell on a power line and burned 16,000 acres around the towns of Sacramento and Weed.

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