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A controversial prescribed burn, which would eventually become the Hermits Peak Fire, has left Northern New Mexicans and officials wondering why it ever happened in the first place. The U.S. Forest Service, which lit the blaze, has yet to release all the information about the conditions under which the burn took place––citing a pending review.
Wildfires are on a furious pace early this year — from a California hilltop where mansions with multimillion-dollar Pacific Ocean views were torched to remote New Mexico mountains charred by a month-old monster blaze.
Many homes near America's largest wildfire survived the latest barrage of howling winds and erratic flames but New Mexico's governor said Tuesday the risk of more destruction is high and that the long-term costs of recovering from the massive blaze will soar. Two more days of strong winds and dangerously bone-dry conditions are in the forecast before some relief is expected Friday.
The service has said that forecasted weather conditions were “within parameters of the prescribed burn,” but the agency has declined to specify what those parameters were.
Dangerous, gusty winds were expected to continue Monday across northeast New Mexico, complicating the fight against wildfires that threaten thousands of homes in mountainous rural communities.