Two small towns in Northern New Mexico were forced to evacuate on Friday afternoon because of a fire that could be dangerous near the towns of El Valle and Las Trampas, according to officials.
According to a press release issued by the National Forest Service, firefighters are battling the blaze on Carson National Forest land south of Peasco, and additional crews and aircraft are on order.
Zachary Behrens, a spokesperson for the Carson National Forest, stated that the fire is not far from N.M. 76. The burst has been named the El Valle Fire and was at around 200 to 400 sections of land at 9 p.m., as per a news discharge from the Carson Public Woodland.
“Joined by helicopters and air big haulers, firemen made direct moves to hold the fire back from developing and to safeguard networks,” the news discharge said. ” Saturday will see more of the same. There has been damage to one outbuilding.”
El Valle and Las Trampas are in “go” or “evacuate” status, while Llano San Juan, Chamisal, Ojitos, Upper Ojitos, and Ojo Sarco are in “set” or “lesser” status until a town is evacuated.
Hodges, Truchas, Rodarte, and Santa Barbara are all “ready.” According to the Inciweb fire-tracking website, despite the clear visibility of smoke on Friday evening, Peasco, Rio Lucero, Vadito, Sipapu, and Picuris Pueblo were not in danger.
The Santa Barbara Campground in the nearby area has also been ordered to close.
According to the state Department of Transportation, N.M. 76, which is a part of the High Road to Taos, is closed from mile marker 18, which is one mile east of Truchas, to the intersection with N.M. 75 at mile marker 29, which is one mile west of Peasco.
The Truchas Services Center, 60 County Road 75, and the Peasco Community Center, 14136 N.M. 75, have been designated as evacuation centers.
Smoke was first revealed at 12:49 p.m. Behrens portrayed the fire as focused energy, with a moderate to high pace of spread, copying in lumber and with its objective obscure at this point.
The blaze is being tackled by fire departments from Carson National Forest as well as from Taos County Peasco Fire District and Rio Arriba County.
From Taos and Santa Fe, easy-to-see smoke plumes could be seen; In a text message, the Santa Fe County Office of Emergency Management advised people not to call 911 and stated that there was no threat to Santa Fe.