GILA NATIONAL FOREST – The Black Fire has broken another record this fire season and burned more acreage than the 2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire, making it the second largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recent history.
The Black Fire has been burning since May 13 in parts of the Gila National Forest that are largely uninhabited. The U.S. Forest Service reported that the fire was started by human means but the exact cause is under investigation.
As of Friday, June 10, the fire has burned 300,336 acres — 469 square miles — of land and the perimeter is 42% contained.
The size is now nearly 2,500 acres larger than that of the Whitewater-Baldy Fire, which also burned in the Gila. The 2012 fire was the largest wildfire in the state’s history until 2022. The Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire, burning in northern New Mexico, surpassed the size of Whitewater-Baldy in mid-May and currently scorching 319,841 acres. The Calf-Canyon-Hermits Peak Fire is 65 percent contained.
President Joe Biden will visit New Mexico on Saturday to be briefed on the state’s historic fire season.
Activity on the Black Fire has remained active largely along the southern edge of the blaze. Flames are now about seven miles north of the historic communities of Kingston and Hillsboro. Wednesday afternoon thunderstorms produced outflow winds and lightning over the area causing fire runs. Despite the weather, little precipitation fell.
Firefighters were reportedly taken off the fire line Wednesday to seek shelter from the lightning. They also responded to two new fires started by lightning near Emory Pass.
The chance for dry thunderstorms will persist for the rest of the week, bringing lightning and “erratic” outflow winds, according to the forest service update. Dry southwest wind is expected in the area over the weekend and into the coming week potentially causing significant growth to the fire.
Thursday’s forest service update stated that a majority of fire growth will likely be in East Canyon, Sids Prong and East Curtis Canyon. An emergency closure order is in effect for portions of the Wilderness Ranger District, prohibiting public use of the land due to extreme fire danger.
Smoke is expected to impact communities overnight along Highway 35, Highway 152 and Interstate 25.
Two additional structures have been lost to the Black Fire, bringing the total to four, though it is unclear at this time what types of structures were consumed.
The Ladder Ranch area is on Go status for evacuation. Kingston and Percha Creek are in Ready status. The Hillsboro area remains in Planning status. Real-time evacuation updates can be found online at https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d375d3d880a649aa914f693db309b892.
New Mexico Highway 152 will be closed from mile post 40 near Kingston to mile post 15 near San Lorenzo beginning at 8 a.m. NM Highway 50, or Beaverhead Road, will be closed to traffic between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Forest Road 150 to NM Highway 52. This is to allow fire crew traffic easier access and safety.
A community meeting will be held Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at the Black Range Lodge in Kingston.
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Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at 575-418-3442, LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.
