Latest news with #RioGrandeFire
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Evacuation orders lifted as crews work to contain Rio Grande Fire near Bosque Farms
Firefighting crews have worked to contain a brushfire that began Thursday near Bosque Farms, and evacuations in the area were lifted by Friday morning. The Rio Grande Fire was discovered just before 4 p.m. Thursday on Bureau of Indian Affairs land west of Bosque Farms, which sits in Valencia County just north of Los Lunas. By the end of the day, officials had estimated the fire at 150 acres with no containment. However, the State Forestry Division said in a news release Friday mapping showed the blaze had burned closer to 60 acres and was 10% contained. Three structures burned, the agency said, and some residential structures remain at risk. Investigators had not yet made a determination on the cause of the fire. Two divisions of crews were established on the north and south sides of the fire, which had moved into vegetation along the Bosque Farms community, the Forestry Division said in the release, adding crews would be working Friday 'to improve containment lines and continue extinguishing interior hot spots within the bosque area.' A red flag fire weather warning was in effect for the area Friday, with wind gusts reaching about 20 mph, but weather forecasters predicted a 30% chance of precipitation — possible rain showers in the afternoon and evening, and potentially snowfall after dark. Officials on Thursday evening had called for residents to evacuate the Bosque Farms community. While evacuation orders were lifted Friday, officials asked people to 'avoid the area due to response crews working and fire activity.'
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Bosque Farms residents return home after fire
BOSQUE FARMS, N.M. (KRQE) – People are returning to their homes near Bosque Farms, after strong winds fueled a wildfire that burned across private property and the Bosque Thursday night. While the fire is under control now, neighbors say what happened has them nervous about the dry season. Story continues below Podcast: What Will Voters Do With $1.5 Million? Entertainment: These movies were filmed in Las Cruces. Have you seen them? Crime: ABQ man charged federally for arson attacks at Tesla, Republican Party headquarters Weird: Peacocks spotted in Albuquerque neighborhoods. Where did they come from? The New Mexico Forestry Division said the Rio Grande Fire is technically 10% contained, but crews are mainly just mopping up hot spots on Friday. Neighbors say the fire got big, quickly Thursday night. 'We could see the smoke very plainly…And with the fire trucks around, it was kind of a surreal look,' said Valerie Wells, Bosque Farms resident. It's the first major wildfire in the metro this season, threatening homes in Bosque Farms. Living close to where it happened, Valerie Wells said her mother was home alone when she got the alarming call that evacuations were underway. 'Hoping that we have a home to come back to and hoping that everybody that's affected by this is safe and okay,' said Wells. The Valencia County Fire Department said it sparked on the west side of the Bosque, then jumped the river, where it moved toward private homes. The New Mexico Forestry Division is now overseeing the investigation and said they don't know what caused it, but it quickly burned around 60 acres. At least three structures were damaged. 'The winds yesterday were large and last night they calmed down a little bit, but they were still persistent enough that we left, crews were working the fire all night,' said George Ducker, New Mexico Forestry Division spokesperson. With wind whipping the fire quickly, some people between Lillie Road north to Truchas Lane were forced to evacuate for a short time overnight. Although evacuations have all been lifted, police are asking people to be mindful of fire crews. 'If they don't need to go in there right now because there's still a large fire activity in there, fire crews are still in there, they're still processing, they're still looking for hot spots,' said Chief Andrew Owen, Bosque Farms Police Department. The Forestry Division said they have seen the number of fires nearly double from this time last year, saying that they've seen about 300 fire starts so far in 2025. Crews are hoping that possible rain in the area could help their efforts on Saturday. They're urging neighbors to be mindful, though, as the winds have picked up again on Friday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Wildfire near Bosque Farms 10% contained
Crews work on the Rio Grande Fire on Thursday afternoon. (Photo courtesy Candice Kutrosky, NM Forestry Division) A wildfire in Valencia County destroyed three structures yesterday evening, according to a New Mexico state Forestry spokesperson. Efforts to contain the wildfire remain ongoing. The Rio Grande Fire was detected around 4 p.m. on Thursday west of Bosque Farms. High winds and dry conditions pushed the fire east across the Rio Grande into the village Bosque Farms, state Forestry spokesperson George Ducker said. The fire, which started on Bureau of Indian Affairs jurisdiction is currently 10% contained, Ducker said. The fire spans roughly 60 acres, or less than a tenth of a square mile, and the structures burned may have been homes, Ducker said, , but a damage assessment is being conducted today. Fuels for the fire include grass, brush and other plants along the bosque. High winds and prolonged drought made fire risk high in the area and across the state Thursday. The fire also caused evacuations but those have since been lifted, Ducker said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Ducker said, though some online wildfire databases say it was 'human caused.' Crews worked through the night to contain the fire and have since established divisions on the north and south sides of it to try to contain it further. Crews will look to increase containment and extinguish hotspots within the bosque today, Ducker said. Winds in the area are expected to decrease, and scattered rain showers are expected tonight. Still, the eastern two-thirds of the state, including Bosque Farms, are under a Red Flag Warning, according to the National Weather Service.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Rain, snow moves into New Mexico Friday
Windy weather returns to southern and eastern New Mexico Friday afternoon. A storm starts moving into the state Friday, bringing rain and snow chances through Saturday. It has been a very windy day across New Mexico Thursday with wind gusts as high as nearly 80 mph in parts of the state. The winds have slowly been dying down tonight, but it is still breezy across most of the state. This is great news for firefighters battling the Rio Grande Fire in Bosque Farms. While most areas will see calmer winds overnight, some higher elevation locations will hang onto the higher winds through Friday morning. Windy weather will return to southern and eastern parts of the state Friday afternoon, with a few wind gusts as high as 50 mph. A storm will start moving into the stat from the northwest as well by Friday afternoon with isolated rain showers and higher elevation snow. This storm will spread more rain and snow east across the state Friday night. As temperatures fall overnight, snow levels will also fall. We could see snow levels as low as 6,500′ along and north of the I-40 corridor before climbing again by late morning. Scattered rain showers will also move through the state, with the best chance for rainfall accumulation in western and northern New Mexico. A couple isolated rain showers will also be possible through the day Saturday in the Albuquerque Metro. 2″ to 8″ of snow will be possible in the northern and western mountains with up to 10″ across the mountain peaks. Some lower elevations may even pick up 1″ to 2″. Temperatures will be much cooler Saturday afternoon as well. Drier and warmer weather returns in time for Easter Sunday with highs back up to around average for this time of year again. Winds will also be much lighter Sunday afternoon all across the state. Temperatures will continue to warm through the end of next week. Some moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will move up into eastern parts of New Mexico starting Tuesday. This will bring a chance for afternoon thunderstorms to eastern parts of the state each afternoon next week starting Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Las Vegas, N.M., residents, businesses grapple with PNM's public safety power shutoff
LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The beam of a heavy-duty DeWalt flashlight swept across the shelves of the Big R store as Michael Velarde searched for a Sharpie marker to buy. Otherwise, the store was dark Thursday, even at 2:30 p.m. Public Service Company of New Mexico had cut the power to the store as part of a public safety outage that affected some 2,300 of its customers in the western area of Las Vegas, N.M., as high winds began blowing through Northern New Mexico. Still, the store remained open and customers trickled in, met by employees wearing headlamps. Initiated at 11:30 a.m., the PNM shutoff was necessary, the electric utility said, to reduce the risk of fire danger amid high winds. Gusts caused other power outages around the state and drove a brushfire that had ignited Thursday afternoon on Bureau of Indian Affairs land west of Bosque Farms. George Ducker of the New Mexico Forestry Division sent a news release Thursday evening about the fast-moving Rio Grande Fire, which had burned several structures and led to evacuations. The fire was estimated at about 150 acres but was growing in red-flag conditions. 'This is becoming the norm' The Las Vegas outage marked PNM's first planned power shutoff in wildfire weather following previous warnings of outages in Santa Fe, the East Mountains near Albuquerque and other areas of the state during a dry spring with days of heavy gusts. 041725_MS_Las Vegas Power_003.JPG Traffic waits a temporary stop sign at the intersection of Mills Avenue and Eighth Street in Las Vegas during a public safety power shutoff Thursday. "It's in response to fire danger throughout the West … and the need to do our part to prevent these catastrophes," said Jeff Buell, a spokesperson for PNM, the largest electric utility in the state. "It is a last-resort step that we take after pretty agonizing deliberations." He estimated power would be restored as early as 3 a.m. Friday. But PNM said in a morning news release customers in the outage area should expect it "to last overnight and up to 48 hours depending on fire conditions and potential damage caused to the system by high winds." The shutoff comes as some electric utilities in Western states, such as California, have at times resorted to enacting blackouts in times when fire risk is high. New Mexico is another state that has seen devastating and costly wildfires in recent years. The decision to shut off the power is one that promises to draw the ire of residents concerned about food in refrigerators souring, among other things, while waiting for service to be restored. But Las Vegas residents perhaps have a unique understanding of fire risk. The Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, the worst blaze in New Mexico's recorded history, started in 2022 due to a pair of botched federal prescribed burns, leaving thousands of people displaced while destroying hundreds of homes. "I've never heard of that before in my entire life, but I understand their concern," Velarde said of PNM's power shutdown. "They don't want the city to catch fire again." The National Weather Service in Albuquerque had warned of extreme fire conditions Thursday due to a combination of prolonged and increasing drought across the state, high temperatures and heavy wind gusts — part of a pattern of extreme conditions as global climate change intensifies. Drought map According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 98% of New Mexico is now in some level of drought, with the severity of conditions inching upward. Over 80% of the state is in at least severe drought and a third in extreme drought, including northern Santa Fe County, half of Rio Arriba County and swaths of Taos and Sandoval counties, as well as a large area of southwestern New Mexico. Las Vegas Mayor David Romero noted this is becoming a reality in parts of the Southwest where wildfire concerns run high. It's something the city needs to prepare for, he said. "In general, I think this is something, moving forward, the city and also the community are going to have to be prepared for things like this," Romero said. "Nationwide and here within the state, this is becoming the norm within power companies to prevent fires and fires in general." Windy day in Las Vegas Heavy gusts were whipping around signposts as people walked through a business district of the San Miguel County town with their heads lowered. With dust in the air impacting visibility outside of town, Romero said Thursday marked a very strong wind event. "Of course, it's an inconvenience. That's for sure," Romero said. "But you have to understand: Some of these measures that they're taking, they're precautionary, and we did experience the fires." Velarde said he felt the utility's decision to shut off power was something of a double-edged sword for residents and businesses in Las Vegas. "They are taking precautionary measures," he said. "But what about the people that are going to lose all their food? That's a travesty, especially if you are low-income." At the corner of Mills and Eighth streets, traffic lights were dark as drivers approached with uncertainty. Nearby, the doors of a Dollar General were closed; a handmade sign gave the reason: Power outage. "Sorry for the inconvenience; have a wonderful day," the sign said. Dollar General A Dollar General Store in Las Vegas, N.M., was closed Thursday due to a public safety power shutoff initiated by Public Service Company of New Mexico to reduce the threat of wildfire amid high winds. Along with business closures, the power shutdown prompted Luna Community College to close for the afternoon, Facilities Director Matthew Griego said. "We don't have the infrastructure in place for the backup [power] right now," he said. However, New Mexico Highlands University and the local public schools appeared to continue operating throughout the day. "It's business as usual until we hear something from PNM," Highlands spokesperson David Lepre said. The state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a statement it was prepared to respond to any requests for help from Las Vegas. "We have helped the local emergency manager identify critical infrastructure that might be impacted and a shelter location in case that becomes a need. We're in constant communication with the local officials and PNM to monitor the situation," the statement said. When will power return? PNM's outage map showed about 1,000 customers in the Belen area, south of Albuquerque, had no service due to power line issues. Other equipment issues left about 1,300 people without power in a southeastern portion of Albuquerque. The Las Vegas shutoff would remain in place "until the extreme weather conditions have passed, and the risk of a wildfire has been reduced," the utility said in a news release Thursday morning. "Current forecasts predict that the weather event will subside by 8 p.m." 041725_MS_Las Vegas Power_002.JPG Jason Lassell, manager of the Big R store in Las Vegas, fills a generator with gasoline during a planned power outage Thursday. Buell said around 5:30 p.m. PNM crews were "standing by," meaning groups of workers were waiting for wildfire conditions to subside before patrolling the power lines and inspecting every inch of the deenergized system to ensure there were no tree limbs that had fallen or "any material caught in the lines or any damage to the lines." "This process will probably take several hours," Buell said. "It's a lengthy process, particularly because it will be mostly during the dark." PNM noted it has "20 miles of lines and more than 800 poles and equipment that must be patrolled, mostly on foot, and possibly repaired" in the Las Vegas area. "This could take an extended amount of time, and PNM is urging customers to prepare to be without power overnight." Staff writers Nicholas Gilmore and Esteban Candelaria contributed to this report
