By Marty Mayfield
KRTN Multi-Media
The Ute Park Fire has grown into an enormous monster of a fire in less than 24 hours consuming over 12,000 acres as of 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. As of 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon that number had reached 16,500 acres according to the New Mexico Forestry Division.
A full mandatory evacuation of the Village of Cimarron was put into effect at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning as the fire breached the three mile trigger point for the evacuation. The Lambert Hills area of Cimarron were the first to be informed of the evacuation order as Cimarron PD officers and Colfax County Sheriff Deputies went door to door to inform residents to leave. There are about 1100 residents in Cimarron as of the 2016 census according to Cimarron City Councilor Matthew Gonzales.
Philmont Scout Ranch had already pulled all of its back country staff back into headquarters and Friday afternoon they made the decision to move all non essential personnel off the ranch to the Colfax County Fairgrounds in Springer due to air quality issues. There are about 1100 employees on the ranch at this time in preparation for the arrival of boys scout for the summer season.
The fire consumed 12 structures in Cimarroncito that had been condemned for destruction. The fire is currently burning on both sides of highway 64 in the lower Cimarron Canyon. The fire has also jumped State Road 204 which goes up from Cimarron to the Barker Wildlife area. The fire continues to burn to the northeast sending smoke as far east as Kansas as seen on the GOES weather Satellite. Air quality will be a concern in the area for some time as the smoke continues to move over the Raton area. A wind shift around 3:00 p.m Friday afternoon blew the smoke in a more easterly direction out of Raton proper.
Highway 64 between Cimarron and Eagle Nest remains closed. Highway 58 as well as Highway 21 is closed into Cimarron. Highway 64 will likely remain closed for several days after the fire is controlled for road cleanup as posts on guard rails are burning and with high winds burnt trees have fallen onto the roadway. Under Sheriff Leonard Baca told KRTN that firefighters had been cutting up trees that had fallen into the roadway Friday in order to keep the road clear for firefighters.
The Colfax County Commission met in emergency session Friday morning in Maxwell and were briefed by Tom Vigil, the Colfax County Emergency Manger, on the progress of the fire. Commissioners signed resolution 2018-16 declaring an emergency for the Ute Park Fire this begins the process for federal and state emergency funding. (Link to the Colfax County Emergency Declaration) It will also help in asking the state for National Guard troops to be deployed to help guard Cimarron to prevent looting.
There are approximately 250 firefighters battling this blaze and another 250 are expected in Saturday. Now that Colorado also has a fire near Durango the slurry bombers will have to be shared over there but they will keep several helicopters here to do water drops on hot spots according to New Mexico State Forester Donald Griego.
Governor Susana Martinez flew into Crews Field Friday evening and visited with a couple of evacuees at the Whittington Center before moving on to Springer where she visited with evacuees from Philmont Scout Ranch. She has pledged that all of the state resources will be available to the village of Cimarron and the surrounding area. She went on to ask that people please obey the warnings and not build campfires or cut wood with electrical saws that can cause sparks especially in light of the extremely dry conditions.
While many of the Cimarron evacuees stayed with family and friends, others chose to stay in motels with a few arriving at the Raton Convention Center. While staying at the Center they will be well taken care of as the Food Depot in Santa Fe delivered 8,660 pounds of food sent to Raton or the equivalent of 7,217 meals for distribution. The meals will also go to help feed firefighters battling the blaze.
Ute Park Fire update with Billy D and Marty during the June1st Noon News Update.
