Featuring visitor's guide, maps, 360° panoramas, vistas from air & space, books, movies, and information about the Caldera's geology, wildlife, and history. Located in the Jemez Mountains of Northern New Mexico, the "Yellowstone of the Southwest" features the Valle Grande, Redondo Peak (elev. 11,254), the East Fork of the Jemez River, the San Antonio River, hot springs, thousands of elk, hunting, fishing, and hundreds of square miles of stunning natural beauty a mile and a half high.
The now 100%-contained Las Conchas Fire transformed the Jemez Mountains’ normally clear and sparkling Valles Caldera-draining rivers into dark, ashy, and muddy waterways this weekend.
The San Antonio River was black on Saturday, and a witness stated that the creek “smelled like ash…like when you douse a fire with water.”
The Jemez’ second caldera-draining river, the East Fork of the Jemez River, did not emit such an aroma this weekend, but it was also much darker than usual. On Sunday, I walked from the home of VallesCaldera.com to the East Fork Box, and despite the dirty state of the river, I submerged myself in its cold waters for the first time since before the Las Conchas Fire ignited, which served as a joyful and refreshing homecoming to a river that had been off limits during this intense crisis.
The San Antonio rises in the charred Valle Toledo, while the East Fork’s headwaters are located on the far eastern side of the Valle Grande (which also burned). The confluence of both rivers can be seen at the tip of Battleship Rock, where the streams form the Jemez River (you can download a 360° panorama from the top of Battleship Rock here, and view all the rest of our panoramas here).
Below are a couple of photos of a darkened East Fork of the Jemez River running through the East Fork Box yesterday.
John Fleck of the Albuquerque Journal wrote an article Saturday on the impact of the fire on the watersheds of the Jemez Mountains. In the story, Fleck describes how ashy and muddy conditions in the Rio Grande (into which the Jemez’ streams flow) caused the city of Albuquerque to temporarily cease pumping water from the river for its drinking water last week. However, the city resumed diverting water from the Rio on Friday.
When the last bolt of sunshine hits the mountain
And the stars start to splatter in the sky
When the moon splits the southwest horizon
With the scream of an eagle on the fly
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And listen to the ripples as they moan
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
The 141-year-old Jemez Springs Bath House tweeted a valuable piece of intelligence today that many New Mexicans might not know: The area behind the Jemez Springs Plaza is the only place where most folks are legally allowed to swim, fish, walk, and submerge themselves within the Jemez River (except for private property).
Did you know that you can fish & swim in the Jemez River directly behind the Bath House until the forest reopens??? Come on up & enjoy!!!
I played around in the river at the Plaza last weekend, and the hypnotic sound of the river rushing down the red rock canyon, the cold water flowing over my feet as I walked through the muddy bottom of the river, and the passing trout that played in the creek beside us refreshed our spirit tremendously, but particularly so in the midst of the largest fire in New Mexico history. It conjured up the lines of Norman MacLean:
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.
Good places in the Jemez like the Jemez Stage Stop, Los Ojos Saloon, the Laughing Lizard, the Ridgeback Cafe, and Amanda’s Jemez Mountain Country Store are also open for folks who come into the Jemez during this forest closure.
Meanwhile, ash from the Las Conchas Fire, which is now 90% contained, has now has inundated the Rio Grande, causing the city of Albuquerque to stop pumping drinking water from the Rio Grande:
The Water Utility confirms it is ash in the Rio Grande. Plus, I went out and looked myself. It’s ugly! John Stomp, the utility’s chief operating officer, told me he is confident the water treatment plant could clean ash out, but that he decided to shut down the plant anyway just to be cautious.
The Land of Enchantment’s biggest blaze in recorded history has reached 150,041 acres in size, with 61% containment. Smoke still abounds in the Jemez Mountains; at the home of VallesCaldera.com near Sierra los Piños, Redondo Peak, which is three miles to the north, is completely invisible, having been enshrouded in smoke. This is due to the most active remaining front in the fire, which is burning roughly nine miles west of Jemez Springs and four miles southeast of here.
The following photo, by Pete Gomez , shows the Las Conchas Fire as visible from Albuquerque yesterday:
A few areas on the north end of the Las Conchas Fire received precipitation yesterday. While most of this came as light showers, some locally heavy rainfall caused flooding on a few streams in the Santa Clara Canyon. There was no significant impact on the firefighting effort.
Except for these showers, the weather has been warmer and drier the last few days. This drying trend is expected to continue. Fire activity will continue to increase, resulting in more smoke. People living or traveling in the vicinity of the fire will notice this increased smoke, including at night.
Most of the Las Conchas Fire is contained and is in patrol status. The steep, inaccessible slopes on the north and southwest edges of the fire continue to be a barrier to containing the fire. Due to safety concerns, firefighters can’t work on these slopes.
On the southwest edge, the fire has been backing down the steep slope from Peralta Ridge toward Forest Road (FR) 266. Last night, firefighters conducted a low intensity burnout to reinforce the control line along this road. Burnout operations went well and mop-up and patrol will continue today. Fire managers plan for a continued low intensity burnout again this evening as long as weather conditions permit. The burnout will secure this portion of the line while minimizing impacts on the area.
Members of WildEarth Guardians, the Sierra Club, the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and other groups sent a letter to Santa Fe forest supervisor Maria Garcia this week, urging that she consider issuing an indefinite emergency closure order to motorized recreational vehicles and cross-country travel within the fire’s perimeter.
The groups also want the forest to issue a final decision on its travel management plan as soon as possible given the resources that will be directed toward recovery of the burned area in the coming months.
“We are concerned that the fire area must be treated with the utmost care in the period immediately following,” the groups said. “In particular watersheds are highly vulnerable post-fire as are wildlife populations. Unmaintained roads and trails can exacerbate the problems, especially if they are used under the current conditions.”
This marks just the latest plea for curbing the use of off-road vehicles in the Jemez Mountains. In 2009, environmentalists and some landowners petitioned the U.S. Forest Service to close nearly 70 miles of motorized routes in the area.
At Santa Clara Pueblo the following work has been completed: 3,000 feet of concrete barrier was placed, 30,000 sand bags filled and placed, three miles of channel cleaning and debris removal, two bridge box culverts and 15 other culverts cleaned, half a mile of fence removed from Santa Clara Creek, and over 10 miles of hazard trees were marked and felled on the road up Santa Clara Canyon. The Army Corp of Engineers reviewed work that has been done and suggested additional point protection be done around the Day School. The fish in ponds 2 and 3 will be shocked and removed and the ponds drained and cleaned.
Reviewing a completed fuel break, Bruce Bauer, Director of Forestry, Santa Clara Pueblo and BAER Team Liaison was able to see the results of an effective fuels treatment. “You could see where the fire made a good run and then just lay down when it hit the break. I’m really glad we did that project or we wouldn’t have seen that island of green.” In an area where the Santa Clara Pueblo has had 80% of its land base burned since the Cerro Grande fire, every sliver of green timber makes a difference to stabilizing soil.
Today wildlife specialists visited Forest Service land to check on Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout habitat. The creek the fish reside in is narrow and shallow with ash sloughing off into the stream. Unfortunately, the area around the creek has been severely burned and specialists believe the fish will not be able to survive. Written assessments for the Santa Fe National Forest will be completed today.
InciWeb also, for the first time, released a detailed analysis today of the amount of acreage that has burned in the fire for each jurisdiction in the area:
Indian Trust Land (18,829 acres)
Jemez Pueblo 2,238 acres
Santa Clara Pueblo 16,587 acres
Santa Domingo Pueblo 4 acres
Santa Fe National Forest 76,634 acres
Bandelier National Monument 20,810 acres
Los Alamos National Laboratory 133 acres
State of New Mexico 1,704 acres
Valles Caldera National Preserve 27,781 acres
Private Land 3,352 acres
They’re serving time in prison, but that hasn’t stopped them from fighting the biggest wildfires our state has ever seen. And this special group of inmates in Los Lunas is getting a chance at a new career opportunity.
It’s called the inmate work camp program. It’s run by New Mexico State Forestry, and puts non-violent inmates in a setting that goes far beyond concrete walls and barbed wire fences.
When the Las Conchas fire hit its peak and posed the biggest threat to Los Alamos, hundreds of firefighters stormed the lines. One of them is serving a roughly two-year sentence at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas.
“Pretty intense, there was a lot of fires up there, we were on structure protection at the Pajarito Ski Area, making sure that it didn’t burn,” said inmate firefighter Timothy Duncan.
Here is the most recent progression map of the Las Conchas Fire (click on the map for a detailed view):
The Las Conchas Fire has now burned 149,240 acres (233 square miles) of the Jemez Mountains, with 57% containment, according to this morning’s fire report. According to incident managers, “most parts of the fire are considered contained and are in patrol status.”
Despite this positive pronouncement, Jemez residents are closely tracking the most active remaining front of the fire, along the inferno’s southwest perimeter. From InciWeb:
On the southwest edge, the fire has been backing down the slope from Peralta Ridge toward Forest Road (FR) 266. The strong, erratic winds from the forecasted thunderstorm could push the fire over FR 266. The current warming and drying trend is making the fire burn hotter, consuming more of the trees and shrubs. Working mostly at night and when the winds are calm, firefighters are gradually burning out this area, creating a low-intensity ground fire. The burnout will secure this portion of the line while minimizing impacts on the area.
Since burned ground becomes hydrophobic — or repels water like concrete — land managers across Northern New Mexico have continued to prepare for flooding that is expected to follow the monsoons that typically soak the region with afternoon thunderstorms (though there has been only one day of unchecked rain since the fire began, last Monday, July 11). The photo below depicts the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center surrounded by sandbags to protect the beloved, CCC-built historic structure from a swollen Frijoles Creek:
On its Facebook page, rangers from Bandelier stated that the multitude of sandbags stacked at its Visitor Center are causing the building to look “like a fortress.”
Following the La Mesa Fire of 1977 [Frijoles] creek flowed thirty-two times its usual rate, and destroyed 23 trail bridges, altered the stream bed, forced evacuations, and deposited 3 feet of silt behind the administrative buildings.
Looking back to June 26, the day the fire began, the owner of a private ranch at Las Conchas, Roger Cox, revealed that the fire began on his land when his caretaker was in Los Alamos running errands. The Associated Press ran an article Wednesday covering this news with the headline “Largest fire in NM history might have been averted.” Cox seemed to finger his caretaker by stating that “if there had been someone to attend to it when the power line got hit, there would have been no fire. It would have been a small burn, but there wouldn’t be a big fire.”
Under those weather conditions it is doubtful that a ranch caretaker could have detected, gathered fire suppression equipment, traveled to, and then put out a fire being pushed by 19 to 40 mph winds adjacent to an arcing powerline.
Meanwhile, the Valle Grande Staging Area on the Valles Caldera National Preserve has reopened to the public. The drive down to the middle of the Valle Grande at the base of volcanic ring fracture dome Cerro la Jara from near mile marker 39 on Highway 4 will cost members of the public nothing. However, no additional recreation activities will be offered to visitors to the staging area at this time, with the exception of visitors being able to get out of their car and take a look at fire damage across the six-mile-long volcanic valley.
Finally, management of the fire is being streamlined and consolidated. Once under the direction of three type-1 incident command teams, management of the Las Conchas Fire has been reduced to one command team.
Here is the most recent fire map of the Las Conchas conflagration:
The Las Conchas Fire’s rate of growth slowed yesterday to its smallest daily expansion since the fire began, having burned 1,289 acres over the past 24 hours. The fire is now 147,642 acres in size. The following photo, by Ethan Frogget, shows an air crane battling the fire in Los Alamos this morning:
Here is the most recent fire progression map, released today:
With regard to the southwestern flank of the fire, about which managers issued an alert to Jemez residents on Saturday informing them about “increasing fire activity,” InciWeb reports today:
The fire continued backing along the south edge, but much less aggressively than in previous days. Firefighters cut control line just south of Peralta Ridge Trail from Peralta Ridge to Forest Road 266. The intent was to light from the road and develop a wider buffer should the fire start a run from below. The burnout was started, but was halted when humidity rose and winds shifted from the west to the south. Several spot fires started just north of the line. They received immediate attention and were extinguished.
The north zone of the fire, which until this weekend had been the most active region of the inferno, reported significant progress. Yesterday, according to fire managers, “all secondary and direct fireline construction was completed in all areas of the North Zone.”
The Las Conchas Fire grew another 4,103 acres yesterday to 146,353 acres in size. Fire growth primarily occurred in the southwest portion of the fire, a development to which fire managers alerted Jemez residents last night, stating that “increasing fire activity” would happen in that area. The progression map above illustrates this growth — yesterday’s fire growth occurred in the areas on the map that are reddest. Fire personnel battling the blaze have been reduced to 1,886, including 18 helicopters, 57 engines, 35 water tenders, and 8 dozers.
The SW zone was the most active with significant intense heat signatures and perimeter growth to the south.The remainder of the southern boundary was quiet with just a handful of isolated heat sources detected in the interior. The eastern boundary was also quiet with only isolated heat sources detected in the interior.The area NW of Los Alamos was much less intense last night with only scattered heat sources detected. The perimeter was relatively unchanged except for a small expansion in Garcia Canyon.
Meanwhile, weather forecasts for the Jemez Mountains show a 50%, 60% and 70% chance of precipitation for today, tomorrow, and Tuesday. Scattered thunderstorms are forecast for today, and heavy rain is on tap for the next two days. This should provide needed moisture for the area, but could also provoke flooding and erratic, strong winds that could challenge fire managers. To alert the area about this possibility, the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for the area surrounding the Jemez Mountains through Monday evening:
AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE FROM OLD MEXICO WILL RESULT IN AN
UPSWING IN THE AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF THUNDERSTORMS
OVER PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND NORTHERN NEW MEXICO DURING THE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING TODAY AND MONDAY. RAINFALL RATES OF A HALF
INCH TO ONE INCH IN 30 MINUTES WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM THE
STRONGER STORMS. STORM COVERAGE AND INTENSITY WILL DECREASE
DURING THE LATE NIGHT AND MORNING TIME PERIODS.
Meanwhile, Staci Matlock of the Santa Fe New Mexicanpenned an excellent feature on the life of a wildland firefighter battling the Las Conchas Fire. The following excerpt of the article provides a snapshot into the quick and decisive work by firefighters that saved the well-known and much-revered portions of Bandelier National Monument within Frijoles Canyon, including the CCC-constructed visitor center area, the Main Loop Trail area, and the Alcove House:
The smoke plume from the Las Conchas Fire at one point twisted horizontally between the narrow walls of Frijoles Canyon, creating a dark, spinning vortex. At the park headquarters, more than two miles away, team members began laying out thousands of feet of hose, connecting sprinklers and filling large, portable orange-and-white containers, called pumpkins, with thousands of gallons of water. They wrapped fire-retardant cloth around the wooden vigas, windows, doors and other structure openings to prevent embers from flying inside and sparking a fire. While they worked, other park staff wrapped and quickly loaded valuable artifacts and artwork from the visitor center into their vehicles and drove them to safety in Santa Fe. Five Type 1 fire engines stood ready in case the blaze reached the buildings.
Three members of the team dug two fire break lines across the canyon about a mile from the buildings. While they were digging, another team member began burning small sections of the canyon bottom between the fire and their lines, hoping to slow down the barreling conflagration.
“We weren’t sure how successful the (outburn) would be until the second day,” Dutton said. Faced with a fast-moving fire, they had to do what they could and hope it worked.
Dutton was on the canyon rim monitoring the fire and the crew when the wind shifted suddenly. The fire jumped their first fire break line, but the second, less than a mile from Alcove House, held the fire back.
UPDATE: 2:10 PM –The following slideshow, from the northwest incident command team on the Las Conchas Fire, explains the various aircraft being used to battle the blaze, as well as some of the tactics that ground crews have been using to slow the fire’s growth:
The Las Conchas Fire has now grown to 142,250 acres, and fire managers report that it is still 40% contained, as it has been over the past few days. Here is the most recent progression map of the Las Conchas Fire (the more recent the expansion, the redder the shade on the map). As you can see, the only area of significant geographical expansion of the fire is in the fire’s southwest perimeter, near Peralta Canyon:
Despite the fact that the fire is continuing to expand, fire managers, land managers, the media, and elected officials have been heavily focused on the floods that inevitably arrive after large landscape fires, given that monsoonal activity is expected to increase by early next week.
KOB-TV reported that “shoveling sand in the high desert heat, scores of Santa Clara Pueblo residents of all ages spent the day filling sandbags to prepare for a flooding disaster.” Watch the report below:
Los Alamos County issued the following plea for volunteers to assist the pueblo with preparations for flooding (although this release is targeted at Los Alamos residents, clearly the Pueblo will gladly take help from anyone who has the strength and gumption to help them fill 30,000 sandbags):
Los Alamos County residents and employees are encouraged to assist our southern neighbors at Santa Clara Pueblo as they prepare for the summer monsoon season and a possible flooding disaster on the now dry Santa Clara Creek.
The Las Conchas fire burning above the pueblo on tens of thousands of acres of tribal forest has incinerated miles of vegetation around the Santa Clara headwaters leaving the area vulnerable to high runoff and erosion.
Volunteers are asked to help fill up to 30,000 sand bags provided by the Army Corps of Engineers. Tribal officials say they will use the sand bags to build walls around the main pueblo complex, as well as homes prone to flooding. The sand bagging effort is expected to continue through next week.
Sand bagging operations are taking place behind the Santa Clara Pueblo Senior Center, located next to the Santa Clara Pueblo Recreation Center on the east side of Highway 30. Volunteers are asked to report to the senior center to check in between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Volunteers are asked to wear long pants, long sleeves and closed toed shoes, and to bring a shovel. Please call ahead to check air quality conditions due to fire smoke at 505.692.6244.
Anti-flood work around Visitor Center includes sandbags, debris & bridge removal, jersey barriers. Canyon area will be closed quite awhile.
Scientists consulting on potential for flashfloods in Frijoles Canyon say that fairly small amts of rain could cause massive floods.
Fire managers also released the following statement regarding the Burned Area Emergency Response team that is focused on preventing flood damage to the wildfire-ravaged Santa Clara Pueblo:
The Department of the Interior BAER Team was ordered and tasked by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to assess the damage to and potential threats to BIA trust lands caused by the Las Conchas Fire. The team’s first priority is Santa Clara Canyon. The team joins other BAER teams to make up the Las Conches BAER Team. The Las Conches BAER Team has divided the fire into the North Zone and South Zone. The task of the team is to collaborate and share resources to provide a unified approach to assessing fire effects.
The North Zone team has also been asked to do a cursory review of the assessments done on the Pacheco Fire. Sandbags and 250 concrete barriers, called k-rails, are being placed in strategic locations to protect homes and infrastructure from flooding on the Santa Clara Pueblo in anticipation of the coming monsoons. There is an early flood warning device in place. Tribal natural resources specialists are being consulted by Team experts to ensure that all affected pueblo’s needs are identified and addressed.
Watershed experts are making plans to mitigate possible damages. Additional hazard trees are being identified for removal and specific guidelines are being generated to guide sawyers towards which trees should be felled. Noxious weeds have also been identified in the watershed.
The BIA has assigned a 638 Contract Self Determination Specialist to work with the Tribe to speed contracting procedures for emergency stabilization projects.
As for the still-growing fire, this morning’s InciWeb report provides the following overview of the fight to battle it:
Several strategies are being utilized to contain the Las Conchas Fire. In many areas, firefighters have built line directly next to the fire. These lines are then mopped up by extinguishing all heat for about a hundred feet from the edge of the line. Another approach is building indirect line, away from the fire’s edge. Firefighters then burn along these lines to create a wider area free of fuels. It may take several hours or even days for the backing fire from the control line to meet up with the wildfire.
Another strategy is being employed on many parts of this fire. With expected “monsoonal” rains, the fire may be extinguished naturally. In places where the fire is burning in extremely steep and dangerous terrain, containment lines have been established along existing trails and roads. These lines have been prepared for burn-out, but fire managers are hoping the rains will arrive before the fire reaches those lines, making the burn-out of containment lines unnecessary. As the fire moves closer, the decision to burn along these lines is continually re-evaluated.
Therefore, the fire continues to grow, put up smoke, and develop columns as both interior runs and perimeter growth occurs.
With regard to the portion of the fire on Valles Caldera National Preserve land, according to InciWeb:
Containment lines along the west and northwest perimeter continue to keep the fire east of Cienega del Oso. Crews will patrol the Valles Caldera Preserve on the west and northwest edge for hot spots that might pose a threat. Construction of handline is complete in the Rito de los Indios drainage to limit fire growth along the northwest perimeter. Crews will continue preparing FR 144 to FR 27 for a burn-out along FR 27, should that become necessary.
Minimal rates of spread and fire activity are expected, due to increasing monsoonal activity to the east and across the fire area. There is a potential for re-burn in areas with heavy fuels, should high winds develop. Winds can cause fire-damaged trees and snags to blow down, which creates a hazard to firefighters.
And as for the active southwestern flank of the fire:
Crews will hold and secure both direct and indirect lines along Peralta Ridge and the line that connects Peralta Ridge to FR 266. They will scout to the south for other locations to construct line to assist in corralling the fire. Aerial ignition may be used today to back the fire towards containment lines.
