Gail Fire Near Mayhill, New Mexico: What You Need to Know
Fires start in the Lincoln National Forest on a red-flag Tuesday in March
The Gail Fire update
At 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18th, the Gail Fire erupted near Mayhill as winds gusted up to 70 mph in the Sacramento Mountains of Southern New Mexico.
As of 7:57 p.m. Tuesday night, the fire was listed at 100 acres, per WildCAD, the computer-aided dispatch system used by wildland fire agencies.
The exact cause of the blaze is unknown at this time.
Genasys Evacuation Map zones OTO-175-C,-178-B, and -301-B were set to GO NOW, Level 3 evacuation orders. Per the Tularosa Basin Regional Dispatch Authority, evacuation has been set for the residents between mile markers 31 and 33 on Highway 82 in Mayhill, New Mexico at the time of writing.
OTO-298, -175-C, -178-A, and -301-A are in SET evacuation warning status as of 8:15 p.m. Cloudcroft High School was open Tuesday night as an evacuation shelter but is no longer being used as a shelter.
Today, Wednesday, March 19th, the Highway 82 Cloudcroft Fire Station is the evacuation shelter. According to Cloudcroft VFD and EMS Chief Erich Wuersching, the current evacuations “stand until 4:00 p.m. [Wednesday] when conditions will be reassessed.”
Red-flag conditions were expected through 9:00 p.m. Tuesday night.
According to Cloudcroft VFD and EMS Secretary and EMT Penny Hall, fire crews from Mayhill, James Canyon, High Rolls, and the Forest Service were some of the first to respond. The Reader confirmed that the Sacramento Hotshots are currently deployed to the blaze.
According to a first-hand account, the fire was headed toward a burn scar, and crews used bulldozers in the perimeter around the blaze early on. Due to high wind and visibility conditions, slurry planes have not yet been deployed.
“I can see smoke and all the fire trucks, but it’s blowing away from us right now. I wish I knew if they caught it or not,” one eyewitness who lives across the highway from the fire told the Reader earlier this afternoon. “I’m packing a bag now.”
“We’re fairly ready to just peace out and, if nothing else, leave everything behind and go,” said Tyler Ford, a Mayhill resident in the evacuation zone. He and his family received the GO NOW notification while talking with the Reader.
For current area fire updates, check out Watch Duty online and through the Watch Duty app. For evacuation notices, sign up for Genesys alerts.
Get Prepared: Cloudcroft’s Fire Chief Shares Village Emergency Alert Plan
Harsh conditions and the Aspen Fire update
Emergency personnel were juggling road closures due to dust storms and high winds—San Augustin Pass, just east of Las Cruces, reported a gust at 101 mph.
US Highway 54 was briefly closed from the southern Otero County line near El Paso to the northern Otero County and Lincoln County lines due to high winds, blowing dust and vehicle wrecks. Crews could be heard over the radio leaving an accident on Highway 54 to head towards the Mayhill-adjacent fire.
The Otero County Electric Cooperative (OCEC) reported dozens of outages affecting thousands of customers from Timberon to Carrizozo. Line crews are working on restoring power to the affected areas.
Due to the weather and highway closures, tonight’s village council meeting has been rescheduled for next Tuesday, March 26th, at 6:00 p.m.
Village Trustee Tabitha Foster posted security cam footage of a large fir tree that came crashing down in the wind, narrowly missing her family’s garage and house.
Also, around 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18th, a new fire started southwest of Capitan.
Around 2:30 p.m., Watch Duty’s Arizona-based Zakery Pressley reported that the Lincoln County Fire Service said on Facebook that “crews were dispatched to a grass fire in the area of Aspen Drive in Capitan. Units responded from Capitan, Lincoln and Bonito Fire Departments, Lincoln Office of Emergency Services, State Forestry and United States Forest Service. Forward progress is stopped, and crews are mopping up additional hotspots.”
We will continue to post updates through Cloudcroft Reader online and through the Cloudcroft Reader Facebook page as these stories develop.
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