Wildfire season in New Mexico is here. February is over, and temperatures are warming. Drought conditions that cause dry vegetation and spring winds provide positive breeding conditions for these fires.
Just such a situation happened in northern Lea County Tuesday afternoon, March 29. According to Lea County Emergency Management, a dangerous grass fire started around 2:30 pm along US Highway 380 at mile marker 247. The grass fire spread quickly into Yoakum County and later into Texas.
Traveling east, the fire quickly became 12 miles long and continued to grow. It was approximately 14.5 miles in length by the time it was contained. In some places the fire was as much as two miles wide.
Unfavorable wind conditions and humidity were experienced. KRQE News Chief Meteorologist Grant Tosterud commented on his Facebook page that winds guested 50-60 mph.
Highway 380 was closed east of Tatum as a result of low visibility, and emergency services advised residents to evacuate.
Fire Contained
On Wednesday, March 30, after 5:00 am, the Lea County Office of Emergency Management announced that the fire had been contained and that “smoldering fires” would be visible in the burned area throughout the night. By early evening on the same day, Emergency Management posted on its Facebook page that the fire was now 100% contained. In total approximately 17,658 acres were burned.
A statement from the Lea County Office of Emergency Management says, “This fire led to residential evacuations, burned vehicles, power outages due to downed powerlines, damaged oilfield equipment, and burned ranch land. We have not received any reports of any major injuries and there was no loss of life associated with this fire. All homes in the path of this fire were protected and all residents are accounted for!”
Additionally, the lives of many cattle were saved through the efforts of the fire fighting teams.
Many Resources Assisted
The list goes on and on of the many resources that helped combat and extinguish this devastating fire. The Hobbs and Lovington Fire Departments were there, as was the Tatum Volunteer Fire Department. Volunteer fire departments from Berrendo, Dora, East Grand Plains, Knowles, Maljamar and Milnesand were also out in force.
The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management Fire- Roswell, the New Mexico Forestry Division, the New Mexico Highway Department, the New Mexico State Police, plus the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, the Lea County Communication Authority, the Lea County Office of Emergency Management and the Lea County Road Department assisted.
Texas volunteer fire departments from Causey, Denver City, Meadow, Morton, Plains, Seagraves and Whiteface assisted, as did the Yoakum County Office of Emergency Management, the Yoakum County Sheriff’s Office and Road Department, the Texas A&M Forest Service from Dozers and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Lea County residents and businesses, additionally, helped immeasureably.
The Midland/Odessa Office of the US National Weather Service issued a “Red Flag Warning” on Monday afternoon, March 28 alerting the public “… to an ongoing or expected critical fire weather pattern”. The notification stated that “critical fire conditions” were occurring at the time or would occur shortly. The public was warned to be “extremely careful with open flames”.
