Santa Fe Watershed Prescribed Burn Planned for Next Week - HEPA filters available for smoke sensitive individuals

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Aztec Springs prescribed fire boundary, Fall 2019.

News Release -

SANTA FE, NM – Sept. 20, 2019 – Fire managers on the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) plan to implement the previously announced prescribed burn in the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed as early as Monday, Sept. 23, if conditions, including fuel moisture levels, air quality, wind direction and weather forecasts, remain favorable.

Up to 350 acres north of Nichols Reservoir near Granite Point in the lower Watershed will be treated with hand and aerial ignitions. The burn will be completed in one day.

The Santa Fe Watershed prescribed burn is specifically designed to improve and protect the 17,384-acre Municipal Watershed, which provides more than 40% 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 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.

Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. 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 (NMDOH) Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) website at www.https://nmtracking.org/fire People with health concerns can also call NMDOH at 505-827-0006 for additional information. For information on the HEPA filter loan program, go to www.https://facnm.org/smoke.

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.

Check out a HEPA Filter

If you are sensitive to smoke or you have someone in your household who is, please consider our HEPA filter loan program.

These filters are available to smoke sensitive individuals during periods of smoke impacts in the Fireshed area. We have a small amount of portable air cleaners that will filter the air in a large room such as a living room or bed room. These will be distributed on a first come- first served basis for predetermined time periods. You will need to provide contact info and come to the Forest Stewards Guild office in Santa Fe to sign for the filter and pick it up.  Please look over the HEPA Air Filter Check-Out Contract.

To check out a HEPA Filter contact Sam Berry at sam@forestguild.org or by calling 505-983-8992 x 16.

Video about how one community's actions to prepare for wildfire stopped the 416 Fire

In June 2018, when the 416 Fire raged north of Durango, scorching tens of thousands of acres, the Falls Creek Ranch neighborhood, a Firewise USA community, was ready. Residents had prepared for the worst through several years of fire mitigation efforts such as clearing brush and overly dense trees, led by a Neighborhood Ambassador from Wildfire Adapted Partnership based in Southern Colorado and guided by a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. As a direct result of their efforts, firefighters could safely combat the eventual arrival of the fire. No structures were lost!

Watch the video here!

Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Collation partnerships lead to successful prescribed burn in Pacheco Canyon

This recent article from the “Inside the Forest Service” highlights the partnerships that the Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition helped to grow that lead to the successful completion of the Pacheco Canyon Prescribed Fire.

Putting the Shared Stewardship Strategy into practice

NEW MEXICO – The recent prescribed burn in Pacheco Canyon on the Santa Fe National Forest just a few miles northeast of the city of Santa Fe marked an important milestone in shared stewardship. In 2015, the New Mexico state forester and the City of Santa Fe’s fire chief convened federal, state, county, municipal and non-governmental partners to talk about a new idea – the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed – and how it could accelerate forest restoration across a complex, multi-jurisdictional 107,000-acre landscape at high risk for wildfire.

Three and half years later, the Pacheco Canyon Forest Resiliency Project is one of the first Fireshed prescribed burns on National Forest System lands. Only six miles from Santa Fe and close to several popular recreation sites, including the Santa Fe ski basin, Pacheco Canyon was of particular concern to the Pueblo of Tesuque, which owns land both within and adjacent to the project area. The tribal government collaborate closely with the SFNF on planning the proposed treatment and provided funding for analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Tesuque Pueblo fuels crew performed much of the prep work prior to the burn, and when it came time to implement, the Tesuque Pueblo firefighters were on the ground with Forest Service crews and other cooperators. Other partners on this successful project included the National Park Service, Santa Fe County Fire Department, Santa Fe City Fire Department, Los Alamos County Fire Department, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and Forest Stewards Guild, demonstrating the value of a collaborative approach to improving the health and long-term resilience of at-risk watersheds and communities.

Partners in the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition came together to address the risk of high-severity wildfire on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The consequences would be catastrophic ecologically, economically and socio-culturally.

The successful Pacheco Canyon prescribed burn is another piece of the puzzle that members of the coalition are fitting together to make communities more adapted to wildfire.

https://www.fs.fed.us/inside-fs/putting-shared-stewardship-strategy-practice

Crews keep an eye on low-level flames burning through duff on the Pacheco Canyon prescribed burn, part of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed project area. USDA Forest Service photo by Jon Boe.

Wildfire Preparedness Day 2019 Wrap Up

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

Era of Mega Fires Film

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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