Valles Caldera National Reserve remains closed; New fire breaks out on west side in Freelove Canyon area

VCNP News:

JEMEZ SPRINGS – The Cerro Pelado Fire continues to burn south of Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) in the Santa Fe National Forest. In order to protect the safety of the public and firefighters while extinguishing wildfires in forest and emergency operations on the Cerro Pelado fire, the VCNP remains closed until further notice.

NM 4 is once again open to local traffic. If heavy traffic interferes with firefighting efforts and endangers the safety of firefighters, the road could be closed again.

A new outbreak of fire was detected this afternoon on the west side of the park in the Freelove Canyon area. The initial report says 3.3 acres have burned and the initial fire attack is being conducted by the Type I team fighting the Cerro Pelado fire. The teams are on the ground and working on the fire. The cause of the startup is unknown at this time.

People sensitive to smoke and people with respiratory problems or heart conditions are encouraged to take precautionary measures. Information on air quality and protecting your health is available online at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) website at https://nmtracking.org/fire. An interactive smoke map to https://fire.airnow.gov/ allows you to zoom into your area to see the latest smoke conditions.

Fire updates are posted at:

Inciweb

Santa Fe National Forest website, facebook pages, and Twitter to feed

Santa Fe National Forest Closures and Restrictions interactive map

Valles Caldera National Reserve website, facebook pages, and Twitter to feed

Information on the fires in New Mexico website