New Mexico fire prompts evacuation orders, electric shutoff
A wildfire that dispatchers detected early Wednesday morning near Jemez Springs has a “high potential for spread,” according to Santa Fe National Forest officials, and has prompted evacuation orders and electrical shutoffs as crews race to suppress the blaze.
The McCauley Springs Fire was discovered around 6 a.m. Wednesday south of New Mexico State Road 4 about six miles northeast of Jemez Springs, according to wildfire dispatch records. The fire grew from 30 acres around 10:30 a.m. to roughly 150 acres by 2 p.m, according to the Santa Fe National Forest.
New Mexico has seen an active fire season this year, much like Colorado's recent experience with major wildfires that have strained resources across the region.
The wildfire prompted immediate evacuation orders in the Jemez Falls Campground, as well as nearby communities of Sierra los Pinos and Vallecitos. The Jemez Electric Co-op shut off power to customers east of Thompson’s Ridge, according to the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office.
Forest Service officials said the Santa Fe Interagency Hotshot Crew has responded, along with two helicopters, and that another crew tackling the 147-acre Rio Fire nearby in the Española area has been reassigned to McCauley Springs Fire.
Smoke is visible from Albuquerque, as well as throughout other surrounding communities and the Valles Caldera National Preserve, according to the Forest Service and National Park Service.
YMCA Camp Shaver in Jemez Springs announced on social media that it was evacuating campers and staff, and the Hummingbird Music Camp announced it was closely monitoring the fire and had prepared plans to flee but that, as of around 3 p.m., had opted to stay in place due to the fire heading northeast, away from the camp.
The wildfire is burning in a swath of national forestland about six miles northwest of the perimeter of the 2022 Cerro Pelado, which burned about 45,000 acres that summer.
The McCauley Springs Fire is one of six actively burning in the state, according to Inciweb, in a year that has featured an above-average number of wildfire starts in the first six months of the year, according to New Mexico Forestry Division data.
