UPDATE 1 – Friday, April 22, 2022

The CALF CANYON FIRE ignited from an unknown cause during a RED FLAG WARNING about 18 miles northwest of Las Vegas, New Mexico on Tuesday, April 19th around 1500 hours.

Fire Call Center –> Phone: 505-356-2636 — 0800 – 2000 hours — If you are unable to get through, leave a voice mail and they will return your call asap. Email: 2022.calfcanyon@firenet.gov

The fire has burned about 3,000 acres of pine overstory with heavy dead and downed fuels, which are extremely dry and unseasonably warm, dry, and windy conditions. This is due to a lack of winter precipitation over the season, making it prime for unexpected fire weather.

Currently, the fire behavior is extreme and is now at the point of being wind-driven. The weather today is said to be near-critical conditions which we were felt across the area today. Proof of recovery occurred overnight with temps in the upper 70s.

A RED FLAG WARNING and HIGH WIND WARNING were issued by the National Weather Service / Albuquerque for today due to it being a dangerous situation with an extreme mixture of anomalously warm/dry conditions and strong wind gusts.

There is 124 total personnel assigned to this incident, alongside incident cooperators which include the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office, copters, Santa Fe National Forest, and other resources.

Fire personnel will focus on repositioning resources to address emergency responses as needed to impending incidents that may arise and clearing downed trees, to clear evacuation routes if the opportunities arise favorably and are safe for them.

(c) 2022 NW Fire Blog