*Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include fires from the spring of 2022 and predictions for 2023.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Over the last two decades, more than 5 million acres of land have been burned by wildfires in and around New Mexico. The fires range from small blazes to thousand-acre infernos. So how does this year’s wildfire season compare?
A history of fires
New Mexico is no stranger to wildfires. With frequent droughts, high winds, and a variety of vegetation acting as fuel, the state has had more than 1,000 wildfires larger than 100 acres since the year 2000, according to records kept by the National Interagency Fire Center and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG).
KRQE News 13 tallied those records to discover that more than 5 million acres of New Mexico land have been charred over the past 20 years. About half of the fires were caused by lightning or another non-human source. About 37% of the fires were human-caused, the data shows. And the cause is unknown for about 10% of the large wildfires since 2000.
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Interactive: New Mexico’s large fires tend to occur in the state’s forested areas. But nearly every region has been touched by wildfire. Data from: National Interagency Fire Center and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group ‘s Southwest Coordination Center. Note* location data may have errors.
To explore New Mexico’s history of wildfires, KRQE News 13 analyzed data and historical accounts. Topping the list is the recent Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire.
2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire
The first flames of the state’s largest recorded wildfire took hold in the afternoon of April 6, 2022 in the Santa Fe National Forest. It began as a prescribed burn, but quickly spun out of control.
A little over two weeks later, the flames combined with the nearby Calf Canyon fire. Before long, the total area burned passed 300,000 acres, making it the largest in the state’s history.
Thousands of fire personnel worked to stop the flames. And some were injured when an air drop of water landed on several ground crew members.
The fire, and others burning in the spring of 2022, led to a presidential disaster declaration. By recognizing the fires as a “disaster,” President Joe Biden approved federal funds to aid locals in the recovery of their homes.
2022 Black Fire
Another large 2022 fire, the Black Fire began near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico on May 13. After burning for almost a month, the fire consumed more than 298,000 acres.
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View of Black Fire from Air Attack on 5/16/2022 Courtesy of InciWeb.
2012 Whitewater-Baldy Fire
If you were in New Mexico a decade ago, you might remember this one. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex as the one of the largest burns in New Mexico’s history.
The initial spark was caused by lightning on May 9, 2012, according to the Forest Service’s chronology. It struck a remote portion of the Gila Wilderness Area in southwestern New Mexico. Seven days later, lightning started another fire nearby. Together, they would become the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex.
The rugged, steep, boulder-filled terrain made fighting the fires incredibly difficult, the Forest Service account reveals. Six days after the second blaze started, the fires had combined and grew from around 2,000 acres to over 70,000 acres in a single day.
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Satellite imagery from June 5, 2012 showing the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex. In the false -color image, red is the burn scar, vegetation is green, and land is tan. Imagery from NOAA; image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team.
Ultimately, the fire burned around 300,000 acres. That’s more than double the area of Albuquerque. And it took about two months to contain and end the fire.
2011 Las Conchas Fire
While this one only burned about half the acres that the Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire torched, the Las Conchas fire was still massive. It started quickly and burned nearly an acre a second, according to the National Park Service (NPS).
It began Jun 26, 2011, when a tree fell onto a powerline. The fire ignited southwest of Los Alamos, New Mexico and took advantage of particularly dry vegetation. In only 13 hours, it burned more than 44,000 acres, according to the NPS.
It burned for a little less than two months, according to SWCC data. In that time, it burned a total of 156,593 acres in the Jemez Mountains.
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Photo of the Las Conchas Fire. Source: USGS.
While the fire was large, a 2016 research study estimated that it could have been worse. But hanks to a previous fire, the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000, some would-be fuels had already been cleaned out, the study revealed.
The fire destroyed at least 63 homes and scorched some historical sites. 1,104 cultural sites, created around 850 years ago by the Ancestral Pueblo Peoples, were located within the burn area, according to NPS.
Does size matter? Measuring impact beyond acres burned
There are many ways to compare one year of wildfires to another. For example, you could look at the total number of large fires per year.
Over the last 20 years, 2011 had the most 100+ acre fires in a year, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG). That year, New Mexico saw more than 150 large fires.
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In the past two decades, 2011 stands out as having the highest count of large fires. Data from: National Interagency Fire Center and the National Wildfire Coordinating Group ‘s Southwest Coordination Center.
But, not every large fire is equally severe or dangerous. Here are some particularly damaging fires.
2012 Little Bear Fire
While only around 44,000 acres, this lightning-caused fire was one of New Mexico’s most damaging. The blaze began on June 4, 2012. In four days, firefighters were able to establish a perimeter, according to a United States Department of Agriculture report.
But that same day, high winds took embers to nearby homes. The fire quickly burned 242 houses near Ruidoso, New Mexico, and damaged additional buildings, the report notes. The total economic cost exceeded $11 million, according to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration archive.
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Satellite imagery from June 12, 2012 showing the Little Bear Fire Complex. In the false -color image, red is the burn scar, vegetation is green, and land is tan. Imagery from NOAA; image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team.
2008 Trigo Fire
The human-caused Trigo Fire from 2008 made it on to a list of America’s most devastating wildfires, according to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS). It damaged 59 homes, the PBS list notes.
The resulting damage led to a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designation. This means the U.S. president declared the region a disaster area. As a result, FEMA granted $2.1 million in public assistance funds.
2000 Cerro Grande Fire
This one might have been one of the state’s most expensive fires. In 2000, the Cerro Grande Fire only burned around 43,000 acres, but it destroyed 260 residences and damaged Los Alamos National Laboratories, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
About 18,000 people had to be evacuated, the report says. Fire suppression alone cost $33.5 million — repairs to the national lab cost over $300 million. All direct and indirect expenses totaled, that fire cost nearly a billion dollars, the report shows.
Will this year’s fires top the list?
Every year brings the threat of wildfire. As cliché as it sounds, only time will tell how the year stacks up to previous years. But early indications show that 2023 has been wetter than last year. Although KRQE News 13 Chief Meteorologist Grant Tosterud says there are worrying factors that could impact the 2023 fire season.
