Carlsbad Fire

[BBNewb]

Any info on how bad this fire is and whether it could affect Guadalupe Mountain National Park?  The only info I could find was that it was about 3k acres and closed Carlsbad Caverns.  Seems like everything in the southwest is on fire now  .

[dkerr24]

With as high as the winds usually are in the Carlsbad/Guad area, a fire could become a serious problem quickly, especially with no way for fire crews to access backcountry rapidly.

Darin

[possum]

As per "IncWeb"

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2318/

Incident Overview

The Pecos Zone Type III Incident Management Team (Tudor IC) took over management of the fire at 10 p.m. on June 13th from the local Type 4 organization. The Incident Command Post (ICP) is located at the Permian Basin Regional Training Center in Carlsbad, NM.

Special Notices: Carlsbad Caverns National Park has been CLOSED until further notice due to extreme fire activity and concern for public safety. All hikers and cave researchers known to be in the back country are all IN and ACCOUNTED for.

Summary: The fire is burning in steep and rugged terrain along State Highway 7 going into Carlsbad Caverns National Park off of US Highway 62/180. Crews are working aggressively to secure the fire perimeter by conducting burn out operations on different section of the fire but specifically around the community of White City, NM. The objective tonight is to keep the fire south of Dark Canyon Road and west of US Highway 62/180.

Air Attack will be flying the fire in the morning for both mapping and reconnaissance missions, and a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) has been ordered and will be in place this morning.

Resources: Resources from National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service and area volunteer departments from Eddy County responded. Additional air and ground resources are on order and should be arriving this morning.

Closures:

· Dark Canyon Road at HWY 137

· Dark Canyon Road at Hidalgo Road

Structures Threatened: Carlsbad Caverns Visitor Center, park housing, and White City, NM.

Values at Risk: Water tanks and lines, NPS buildings and structures, and communication infrastructure

Smoke from the fire will impacted the communities of White City, Carlsbad, Artesia, and surrounding areas so please take precautions if you have any health or respiratory issues.

For more information, NMED's website, http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/aqb/Wildfire-PM.html, the DOH website http://www.health.state.nm.us/.

[elhombre]

Pray brother,  pray for rain.

[SHANEA]

Special Notices: Carlsbad Caverns National Park has been CLOSED until further notice due to extreme fire activity and concern for public safety.

Won't be long before everything West of the Louisiana line is CLOSED until further notice.

[rhodo]

From http://nmfireinfo.wordpress.com/

Carlsbad Caverns Park to Reopen After Loop Fire
Posted on June 15, 2011 by jmyslivy

Carlsbad Caverns National Park – At 6 p.m., visitors will once again be able to enter Carlsbad Caverns National Park and attend the Bat Flight Program; scheduled tonight for 7:30. Tonight, only the parking lots, Bat Flight Amphitheater, and restrooms will be open. After dark, the park will close to the public for the night, and the entrance gate will reopen at 7 a.m. tomorrow. The visitor center and cave tours will be available on schedule starting tomorrow morning.

[Arlon]

Poor Carlsbad is burned to a crisp (pics from July 22)..