Wildland Fire - 06/21/08 - Farmington, NM

What started out as an agriculture burn caused the evacuation of a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) area of the City of Farmington. Shortly after 14:00 hours a large header of black smoke could be seen rising over Farmington’s west side. Calls poured into the San Juan County’s 9-1-1 Center reporting a fire east of the Pinon Hills Boulevard and West 30th Street intersection.

When Engine Company 5 was initially dispatched, Captain Jay Balfour requested two Brush Units respond as well. The incident quickly escalated, requiring a considerable amount of city and county firefighting resources to contain the blaze. Firefighters also faced weather conditions of 90º F temperatures, relative humidity of 8%, and winds out of the southwest at 7 miles per hour.

Acting Battalion Chief Jim Candelaria arrived on scene and took command of the incident. As the fire continued to grow and spread up hill, he assigned additional resources to protect exposed homes along Ocio Place and Espacio Street. Elevated master streams and handlines were utilized to accomplish that task. Homes in a five block area were evacuated by the Farmington Police Department. As additional resources were requested to meet the needs of the Incident Action Plan, the fire was divided into two divisions to facilitate communications and accountability.

When it was all said and done, Farmington Fire had committed three Engine Companies, two Ladder Companies, and five Brush Units to contain the fire. Mutual aid was provided by San Juan County Fire Districts One (Kirtland), Two (Flora Vista), Four (LaPlata), Seven (Center Point), Eight (Hart Valley), and the Bureau of Land Management's Farmington Office. The fire was contained to approximately seven acres in about 2.5 hours. Companies remained on the scene mopping-up into the early evening.