Las Cruces, NM – Starting Friday, April 3, through Monday, April 6, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Cruces District Office and Fort Bliss Fire and Emergency Services firefighters, in coordination with the Environmental Division of the Fort Bliss Directorate of Public Works, will be burning approximately 400 acres of grass and brush fuels within the southern portions of the Organ Mountains, inside the Fort Bliss Military Reservation.
The firefighters will concentrate their efforts in Soledad Canyon and in Boulder Canyon. The prescribed fire project is located about 13 miles east of the City of Las Cruces. Smoke will be evident in the burn areas, and some smoke may remain for a couple of days after the burn, depending on weather conditions. Smoke will be visible from War Road, NM 404, Interstate 10, U.S. Highway 54, White Sands Missile Range headquarters, and from the outskirts of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.
The purpose of the prescribed burn is to remove burnable fuels from the east sides of cleared firebreaks (black lining) in the vicinity of firing ranges on the Doña Ana Range Complex. New firebreaks have been cleared by bulldozers behind these firing ranges in strategic locations. Using fire to consume the vegetation next to the bulldozed line creates a larger firebreak, making them more effective at halting unwanted wildfires.
For additional information about this planned burn, please contact the Fort Bliss Fire Department at 915-744-8887 or 915-744-9172, or Mark Bernal, BLM Fire Management Officer at 575-525-4305.
Information from BLM