SUN Staff Report
3/19/09
A brush fire that began Sunday scorched 13 acres of bosque along the Rio Chama and adjacent fields between Tierra Azul and Medanales, Abiquiú Volunteer Fire Department Chief Paulette Jordan said.
The fire was still smoldering Tuesday, Jordan said.
Firefighters from the El Rito, Agua Sana, Velarde, Coyote, Chamita and La Mesilla fire departments arrived Sunday to help fight the blaze, Jordan said.
The fire started on private property in Tierra Azul on the west side of the Rio Chama before engulfing cottonwoods and jumping the river to Medanales, Jordan said.
“We had winds of 20 to 25 miles per hour, and it was hot and dry,” Jordan said.
Eleven acres in Tierra Azul and approximately two acres in Medanales were burned, Jordan said.
Jordan stayed overnight to monitor the fire. No structures or vehicles burned and there were no injuries, Jordan said.
“We got the hotspots out but we’re still monitoring one or two (spots),” Jordan said Tuesday. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it may have been caused when a Tierra Azul resident threw hot ashes from a fireplace into a back yard, state Forestry Department spokesman Dan Ware said Tuesday. Ware could not provide the name of the person suspected of starting the fir.
Once the individual’s identity is confirmed, Forestry Department officials will decide whether or not to cite that individual for the fire, Ware said.