The Cerro Pelado Fire was a wildfire that burned in the southern

Jemez Mountains The Jemez Mountains are a group of mountains in Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico, United States. Numerous Puebloan Indian tribes have lived in the Jemez Mountains region since before the Spanish arrived in New Mexico. T ...

Sandoval County Sandoval County is located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 131,561, making it the fourth-most populous county in New Mexico. The county seat is Bernalillo, New Mexico, Bernali ...

, southwest of Los Alamos, in the state of New Mexico in the United States as part of the 2022 New Mexico wildfire season. The cause of the fire was determined to be an escaped prescribed burn started by the US Forest Service. The wildfire started on April 22, 2022, during extreme fire weather conditions. , the Cerro Pelado Fire has burned and is 100% contained.

Events

On April 22, 2022, large portions of New Mexico experienced extreme fire conditions, including a red flag warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Albuquerque. The fire was first reported that afternoon, it was officially named the Cerro Pelado Fire after the nearby

Cerro Pelado Cerro Pelado is a fast-growing population centre, or neighborhood, in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is one of the northern suburbs of Maldonado, along with Villa Delia and La Sonrisa La Sonrisa is a suburb of Maldonado, ...

mountain. The Cerro Pelado Fire was partially burning within the burn scar of the 2011 Las Conchas Fire, and near those of the 2013 Thompson Ridge Fire and the 2017 Cajete Fire. On June 15, 2022, it was announced that the Cerro Pelado Fire was fully contained. The New Mexico Type 3 Team will now hand charge to the Jemez Ranger District June 15, 2022.

Cause

An investigation by the United States Forest Service concluded in 2023 determined that the probable cause was debris-burning activities. A prescribed burn by the USFS had taken place in the area and several debris piles left by logging activity had been ignited in January and February of 2022. The piles were monitored occasionally following the initial prescribed burn and some of the piles in the ignition area retained heat as late as April 20, 2022. Fire crews would create berms around hot piles and spread the ashes to allow the heat to escape. The red flag event led to the spread of hot ash and embers from the burn piles, igniting the fire.

Impacts

Closures

The fire prompted the closure of the nearby Bandelier National Monument and the

Valles Caldera National Preserve Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps and volcanic domes dot the caldera floor landscape. The highest point in the caldera i ...

, as well as New Mexico State Road 4 from mile marker 27 to mile marker 59.

Weather/Health

Smoke from the Cerro Pelado Fire, in addition to the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire and

Cooks Peak Fire The Cooks Peak Fire was a wildfire that burned north of the community of Ocate in Mora County and Colfax County, in the U.S. state of New Mexico, as part of the 2022 New Mexico wildfire season. , the fire burned and was 100% contained on th ...

burning in northern New Mexico, contributed to poor air quality throughout the region.

Progression and containment status

¹April 23 true acreage is unknown due to inaccurate mapping.

References

External links

Cerro Pelado Fire information at InciWeb

New Mexico Fire Information
2022 in New Mexico 2022 New Mexico wildfires Wildfires in New Mexico Santa Fe National Forest Jemez Mountains April 2022 events in the United States {{wildfire-stub