The Trigo Fire was a disastrous

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

that occurred during April and May 2008. It affected the communities of Manzano, Torreon and Tajique, burned 59 homes"InciWeb: Trigo Fire Update 5.06.2008 10:00pm" Southwest Area Incident Management Team, Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC)
/ref> and over . The fire was discovered the morning of 15 April 2008, approximately ten miles east of Belen, and had already burned some on the western slopes of the

Manzano Mountains The Manzano Mountains are a small mountain range in the central part of the US State of New Mexico. They are oriented north–south and are 30 miles long. The center of the range lies due east of the town of Belen. The name "Manzano" is Spani ...

. The fire was 100% contained on 11 May 2008 and the last smoke sighted and extinguished was on 22 May. The

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

said that the fire would not be completely out until snow blanketed the area in December.Nesbitt, Laura (15 May 2008) "N.M. investigators seek origin of on-going Trigo Fire" ''The Mountain View Telegraph''

Origin

The fire began early in the morning on the 15th of April 2008 in Trigo Canyon (labeled Cañon del Trigo on the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

map) on the west side of the

. ''Trigo'' is the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

word for

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

which was once grown in the lower reaches of the canyon. There is a dirt road up into the canyon and fire investigators determined that there were individuals present in the canyon during the morning of the day the fire began. The fire is believed to have been caused by human negligence. On the morning of the 15th, turkey hunters were seen in the area where the fire started. Daniels, Bruce (30 May 2008) "Feds Believe Hunters Started Trigo Fire" ''Albuquerque Journal Online ''
/ref> The very low relative humidity, high winds, and low fuel moisture coupled with the steep topography made containing the fire very difficult. For several days after the start of the fire the high winds prevented the use of aircraft in fighting the fire.

Economic effects

The fire burned of mostly

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

piñon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food of Native Americans, and widely eaten as a snack and as an ingredient in New ...

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

and

gambel oak ''Quercus gambelii'', with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak. ...

in the

Cibola National Forest The Cibola National Forest (pronounced SEE-bo-lah) is a 1,633,783 acre (6,611.7 km2) United States National Forest in New Mexico, USA. The name Cibola is thought to be the original Zuni Indian name for their pueblos or tribal lands. The name w ...

. The total economic cost of the fire may not be finally determined for years, but initial estimates ranged from $50 to $100 million. The Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative alone lost “a total dollar figure of over $100,000 just in the miles of line alone”, not counting re-installation costs. There were 59 homes destroyed and 40 other structures, representing over $10 million in direct losses. The initial cost of fighting the fire was expected to be $11 million, with an equal amount in clean-up costs.

Notes and references

External links

"Trigo Fire"
InciWeb, Incident Information System, Southwest Area Incident Management Team, Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC), National Fire and Aviation Executive Board. {{New Mexico wildfires Torrance County, New Mexico Wildfires in New Mexico 2008 wildfires in the United States 2008 in New Mexico

Origin

Economic effects

See also

Notes and references

External links