Trigo Fire Follow-up
The new W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking website has been reporting on major fires in the West since mid-April. The first fire covered was (is) the Trigo Fire southeast of Albuquerque, NM.
The Trigo Fire began on April 15 in the Cibola National Forest and by April 21 had grown to 3,750 acres and burned nine homes. The residents of Manzano and Torreon were ordered to evacuate by the Torrance County Office of Emergency Services. By April 26 the fire was 4,910 acres but 60 percent contained.
It was big news. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson toured the fire, as did a group of Congressional staffers. A FEMA declaration was issued. Community meetings were held. Over $5 million was spent on suppression.
But then attention deficit disorder set in. The news media went away, as did most of the firefighters. Bill Richardson went to Venezuela to hobnob with Hugo Chavez. And the Trigo Fire smoldered.
On April 30 winds gusted up to 50 mph and the Trigo Fire blew up. Embers blew over containment lines and the fire doubled in size in a matter of hours. The remaining few firefighters were overwhelmed. By May 2 the Trigo Fire was 13,700 acres and an additional 50 homes had burned. Some 600 families were evacuated from the Torreon and Tajique area. The Sherwood Forest subdivision was decimated.
The Southwest Type 1 Incident Management Team (Whitney) was called in. Over 800 firefighters arrived, but it was too late to save the homes.
For the most part, the news media ho hummed. InciWeb did not (has not) reported the additional 50 homes burned, although they were quick to point out that the first nine homes burned were “not permanent residences” whatever that meant. Governor Bill Richardson has not returned.
The Trigo Fire has been a difficult one. Initial fire suppression efforts failed. The decision to de-mobilize on April 26 proved to be a huge mistake. No additional cost estimates have been issued since then, but suppression costs must now exceed $15 million. Damages and losses are probably in that same ballpark, although promised damage assessments have not been released.
Congresswoman Heather Wilson visited the fire last Friday and sent a request to FEMA to “provide a rapid response if New Mexico requests additional assistance based upon the increase of the fire size and property damage.” [here]. FEMA responded by stating that a preliminary damage assessment will begin on Tuesday.
No word yet on the outcome of that assessment in any of the news media.
The W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking website will continue to cover the aftermath of the Trigo Fire, as best we can in the information vacuum. If you have any updates, photos, or personal knowledge of the Trigo Fire and its effects, please let us know. We will post that information when (and if) we receive it.
Note: The W.I.S.E. Fire Tracking website reported on the South Tularosa Fire on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation, also in New Mexico, a full two days before it appeared on InciWeb. We also reported on the Skinner Fire (East Lake Fire) near Reno two days before InciWeb. That fire was out before InciWeb even noted it had occurred.
by bear bait
Mike:
I think bear bait makes an excellent point and an ideal suggestion for the most effective political use of this website.
I hope that this won’t create too much additional work for you or the WISE crew, but this idea certainly should add great value to your efforts.
Further, a directive from you near the heading of each existing or new wildfire giving directions to readers to 1) donate funding to help support WISE efforts, and 2) make direct contact with representative elected officials would also focus readers on how they can best help to effect needed change.
Thanks for the suggestions. Will try to incorporate. Funding is a very worrisome issue right now, but we will soldier on as long as we can.
Mike: I would like this fire site of WISE to include the congressional district and state legislative districts, legislators name and email addresses for each fire. That way, anyone who wishes to can tell the legislators most affected by the fire what to look for, what questions to ask, and what veteran fire and forestry folks think of current public land firefighting policies and efforts. I am sure, really, really, really sure, that some of our elected officials don’t have a clue as to the what and why of wildfires, or to their aftermaths.
Also, if elected officials get enough feedback, then they might pay attention, even if the feedback is from other areas. We can tell them who our legislator is, and what kind of networking is or is not available to achieve sane solutions to shaky policies.