Wildfire Preparedness Day 2019 Wrap Up

Thanks to everyone who helped make another successful Wildfire Preparedness Week!

Era of Mega Fires Film

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We kicked off with a screening of the Era of Megafires film at the Jean Cocteau Cinema with ~80 attendees. The screening was followed by a lively panel discussion that covered topics ranging from what makes a community fire adapted to tree planting efforts in the Las Canchas burn scar.

Wildfire and Businesses

On Tuesday there was a discussion of the impacts of wildfire on businesses. This was part of the Wildfire Mitigation Clearinghouse’s ongoing effort to build a network of businesses that are committed to helping citizens of Santa Fe realize and act to reduce their wildfire risk.  For more information visit: https://arthurblackchimney.com/wildfire-mitigation-clearinghouse/

Canyon Road Presentation

On Friday, the City of Santa Fe Fire Department presented to the Canyon Road Association about the hard truths of evacuation. They covered wildfire evacuation scenarios and what it would look like if you chose to shelter in place or were trapped in your home.

Wildfire Preparedness Day, Saturday May 4th

Wildfire Preparedness Day Open House

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Over 30 attendees learned how to prepare for a possible evacuation, including what to put into an evacuation kit, from the City of Santa Fe Department of Emergency Management and the Villages of Santa Fe. Three complete evacuation kits were built and given away as door prizes by the Villages of Santa Fe, this was made possible due to a grant from NFPA and State Farm.

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Simtable and the Santa Fe Fire Department demonstrated their advanced technology that projects a modeled fire onto a sand table. They showed how a fire would potentially behave in Santa Fe.

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The Forest Stewards Guild held a tour of how to make your home more resistant to igniting in a wildfire.

 

Huge thanks to the Villages of Santa Fe and their volunteers for their assistance in this event!

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Eldorado Chipper Day

In Eldorado there was a very successful community chipper day that reduced hazardous fuels from along roadways and evacuation routes and chipped up fuels that were cut down by residents. Events like this embody the community action that is so crucial to reducing wildfire risk to residents.

Another community showed off their plans to put in a garden of fire-resistant plants and what forests that have been treated for defensible space can look like.

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Pacheco Canyon Prescribed Fire

The week ended with the Santa Fe National Forest completing a 500-acre prescribed fire in Pacheco Canyon on Sunday. This is just another piece of the puzzle that members of the coalition are fitting together to make communities more adapted to wildfire. The National Park Service, the Pueblo of Tesuque, the Santa Fe County Fire Department, the Santa Fe City Fire Department, and the Forest Stewards Guild were all crucial in completing this prescribed burn.

The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition is very excited about all of the responsibility that people are taking on to get these events going and to help their communities to prepare for wildfire.

The work to prepare your community, home, and family shouldn’t stop now!

 If you’d like to organize an event in your community, consider joining our Fireshed ambassador program. Contact either Sam Berry at sam@forestguild.org of Porfirio Chavarria at pnchavarria@santafenm.gov

Aztec Springs Pile Burn Video

The City of Santa Fe Fire Department and the Forest Stewards Guild used snowy conditions to burn 8-acres of piles in the Aztec Springs area of Santa Fe on January 30th, 2019. Burning these piles was the next step to reduce fuels after the City's wildland fire crews thinned the area near communities on the east side of Santa Fe. This burn was carefully planned and implemented to take advantage of conditions that limited the impact of smoke to nearby residents.

For more about the City of Santa Fe Fire Department’s Wildland Fire Division visit:

https://www.santafenm.gov/wildland_fire_preparedness

For more information about the All Hands All Lands prescribed burn initiative that partially supported this burn visit:

https://facnm.org/our-projects/all-hands-all-lands-burn-team

Glorieta Camps prescribed burn postponed for Friday March 15th.

Santa Fe, NM –Glorieta Camps, The Nature Conservancy’s Rio Grande Water Fund and the Forest Stewards Guild have postponed the planned burn due to poor smoke ventilation and the negative consequences of heavy smoke settling into communities and on road ways. The burn will be rescheduled in all environmental conditions are favorable.

This burn will be implemented by the All Hands All Lands Burn Team (Burn Team), which is a fully qualified team designed to lead or support prescribed burns across a variety of land jurisdictions in the Water Fund landscapes of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.

This prescribed burn is happening in the context of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition landscape. The Fireshed Coalition supports a HEPA Filter Loan Program so that smoke sensitive individuals can borrow a filter for the duration of the impacts. More information is here: http://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loanprogram

  • To find out more and stay up to date, visit https://facnm.org/our-projects/all-hands-all-lands-burnteam.

  • More information on smoke, human health, and a HEPA Filter Loan Program can be accessed here, http://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loan-program.

  • Learn more about Fire Adapted Communities at www.facnm.org. For more information call/text 505-470-0185.

The Burn Team is supported by an agreement between The Nature Conservancy and USDA Forest Service. The Forest Stewards Guild is an equal opportunity provider.

Glorieta Camps prescribed burn planned for March to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk.

Santa Fe, NM –Glorieta Camps, The Nature Conservancy’s Rio Grande Water Fund and the Forest Stewards Guild plan to take advantage of favorable conditions, including moisture levels, air quality, wind direction, and weather forecasts, and initiate a prescribed burn at Glorieta Camps, west of Pecos, as early as Monday March 11, 2019. Exact dates will be dependent on environmental conditions. This burn will be implemented by the All Hands All Lands Burn Team (Burn Team) which is a fully qualified team designed to lead prescribed burns or support others in burning across a variety of land jurisdictions in the Water Fund landscapes of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. 

Up to 55 acres of piles will be treated with hand ignitions by trained and qualified firefighters working under a burn boss within the parameters of an approved and permitted burn plan. These actions are part of Glorieta Camps long-term and science-based commitment to improve forest ecology and reduce the risks wildfire poses to human health and safety, forests, and watersheds.

Smoke and flames may be visible due to the proximity of the site to I-25 and Glorieta, while smoke will likely be visible from Pecos, La Cueva, Eldorado, and Santa Fe. Smoke may settle into lower elevations and drainages overnight but should lift by midmorning, but lingering smoke may be present for up to one week.  The Forest Stewards Guild works closely with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) to monitor air quality during and limit the severity of smoke impacts.

This prescribed burn is happening in the context of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition landscape. The Fireshed Coalition supports a HEPA Filter Loan Program where smoke sensitive individuals can borrow a filter for the duration of the impacts. More information is here, http://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loan-program.

·         To find out more and stay up to date, visit https://facnm.org/our-projects/all-hands-all-lands-burn-team.

·         More information on smoke, human health, and a HEPA Filter Loan Program can be accessed here, http://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loan-program.   

·         Learn more about Fire Adapted Communities at www.facnm.org.  

For more information call/text 505-470-0185.

Contact:   Eytan Krasilovsky, 505-470-0185, eytan@forestguild.org
                                Jon Malvig, 505-757-6161, jon.malvig@glorieta.org

The Burn Team is supported by an agreement between The Nature Conservancy and USDA Forest Service.
The Forest Stewards Guild is an equal opportunity provider.

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Santa Fe Watershed Burn Planned for Mid-March

Santa Fe Watershed Prescribed Burn Planned for Mid-March to Restore Forest Health, Reduce Risk of Wildfire

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SANTA FE, NM – March 5, 2019 – For Immediate Release. Fire managers on the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) plan to take advantage of favorable conditions, including fuel moisture levels, air quality, wind direction and weather forecasts, to initiate a prescribed burn in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed on the Española Ranger District as early as Monday, March 18, 2019. Exact dates will be dependent on fuel conditions on site.

Up to 500 acres near Nichols Reservoir in the lower Watershed, including 50 acres of piles, will be treated with hand and aerial ignitions. Fire managers are also looking at the possibility of treating a 750-acre block in the upper Watershed within the Pecos Wilderness.

The City of Santa Fe’s Municipal Watershed Plan 2010-2029 recommends vegetation treatment in the Wilderness portion of the Watershed to reduce the risk of wildfire and its potential catastrophic impact on the city’s water supply wildfire. The upper Watershed was cleared for treatment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 2015.

If favorable conditions create an opportunity to conduct aerial ignitions this spring, potential targets in the Wilderness would be southern and western aspects of the steep terrain in the ponderosa pine forest, using snow on the ground as a buffer.

The Santa Fe Watershed prescribed burn is specifically designed to improve and protect the 17,384-acre Municipal Watershed, which provides 40 percent of the water for the City of Santa Fe, by removing dead forest fuels and reducing the risk of high-intensity wildfire. Prescribed fire is always managed with firefighter and public safety as the first priority.

Due to the Watershed’s proximity to the city and terrain that tends to direct smoke toward Santa Fe, prescribed burns within its boundaries may impact populated areas. The SFNF works closely with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) to monitor air quality during a planned ignition and limit the severity of smoke impacts.

Smoke will likely be visible from Santa Fe, Tesuque, Glorieta, Pecos Canyon, El Dorado and I-25. Smoke may settle into lower elevations and drainages overnight but should lift by midmorning. Lingering smoke may be present for up to one week after ignitions are complete.

Information on air quality and protecting your health by using the 5-3-1 visibility method can be found online at the New Mexico Department of Health’s website at https://nmtracking.org/fire.

Santa Fe National Forest

11 Forest Lane Santa Fe, NM 87508

Voice: 505.438.5300

Web: www.fs.usda.gov/santafe/

Twitter: @SantafeNF

Facebook: www.facebook.com/santafeNF

News Release

Media Contact: Julie Anne Overton Acting Public Affairs Officer

505.438.5320

julieanneoverton@fs.fed.us

For information on the HEPA filter loan program, go to

https://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loan-program/.

Fire updates are posted on the New Mexico Fire Information website at www.nmfireinfo.com, www.facebook.com/SantaFeNF and Twitter @SantafeNF.

For more information, contact the Española Ranger Station at (505) 753-7331.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

The GSFFC is a coalition of public and private organizations. The GSFFC is not a subdivision of the State of New Mexico, as defined in the state’s Open Meetings Act, §§ 10-15-1 to 10-15-4 NMSA 1978. Although federal agencies participate in the GSFFC, the Coalition is not a federal advisory board and was not created by a federal agency, as defined by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5.U.S.C. app. 2, §§ 1 to 16 (2012). The GSFFC operates informally to support its partners, and is not incorporated as a non-profit, 501(C)(3), partnership, or other legal status.