Containment of the 521 acre El Valle Fire burning near El Valle and Las Trampas remains zero percent contained. Photo Courtesy Carson National Forest

CARSON NATIONAL FOREST NEWS RELEASE

With favorable weather and light fire behavior, fire crews and air resources continued suppression actions on the El Valle Fire Saturday by nearly lining the entire 521-acre burn area, which was mapped earlier Saturday morning by an infrared flight. Containment, however, will remain at 0% as crews have not begun to secure and mop up the line. 

Evacuation statuses will remain in place with plans to revisit them Sunday afternoon. Weather forecasts for Sunday show somewhat improved but similar weather as today, including a chance for gusty and erratic outflow winds from potential thunderstorm activity. 

“We recognize that everyone is eager to fully return home, but we are not out of this yet,” said Incident Commander Fabian Montaño. “We hope Sunday’s weather is as helpful as it was today, but there remains a risk of fire behavior becoming extreme again.” 

Forecasts call for increasing chances of precipitation and relative humidity beginning Monday and continuing throughout the rest of the week. 

The Highway 76 closure has been reduced to between north of County Road 69 in Ojo Sarco and Forest Road 76A south of Chamisal. The Santa Barbara Campground remains closed. 

Twelve engines, one hotshot crew, one type 2 handcrew, two dozers, two type 1 helicopters and an air tanker worked the fire today. 

The fire was first reported at 12:49 p.m. on September 8. Its cause remains under investigation. 

The next fire update is planned for Sunday evening, unless there are significant changes to fire size, fire behavior and/or evacuation statuses. 

The public can check for fire updates on InciWeb, Carson National Forest social media (Facebook, X) and New Mexico Fire Information.