Three Rivers Fire winding down, 30% contained and 7,033 acres

The Three Rivers Fire that began April 26 was 30% contained on Wednesday as precipitation moved into the area and cool weather prevailed in Lincoln County. 

The Three Rivers Fire fire was reported to be consuming 7,033 acres as of 8 a.m. on May 5.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

"It's pretty much winding down at this point, we're seeing less heat when they do reconnaissance flights which is good news," Lincoln National Forest spokeswoman Laura Rabon said.

"(We're) a little concerned about the south side so (Tuesday) they sent two crews down and they're going to send one crew right above the perimeter line and one crew down to straddle the southern border of the fire."

The southern border of the fire is steep,  rough and rocky which makes developing a fire line there hard, Rabon said. 

Story continues below.

Tuesday night into Wednesday some rain fell on the fire, not for the first time. On April 27 a cold weather front brought rain and snow on the fire site.

Rabon said the fire's ignition was just ahead of the area's traditional monsoon season, which posed some concern about flooding. 

"Monsoon season is still scheduled to be on time, so early July, the good thing is that we do have a lot of time between now and monsoon season to do burn-area restoration work," Rabon said. 

Following further suppression of the Three Rivers Fire the Lincoln National Forest will bring in a BAER team. BAER is short for Burned Area Emergency Response. 

The BAER team is made up of hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, vegetation specialists, archeologists and others who assess a burned area and advise on what to do to rehabilitate the burned area, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Potential actions including seeding the burned area, mulching it and possibly replanting trees in the burned area, Rabon said.

The Lincoln National Forest remains open for the most part however there are still some active closures. 

Road closures remain in effect for:

• Bonito Canyon Road past the Bonito Lake Dam 
• Nogal Canyon Road past the Nogal Peak trailhead 
• Three Rivers Trailhead and Campground 
• Monjeau Lookout at Sierra Vista 

Prescribed burns

Throughout the year, the Lincoln National Forest ignites prescribed burns to mitigate a wildfire's spread should one occur.

These prescribed burns are usually in areas that have been previously thinned and mostly done to slash leftover from thinning projects, Rabon said.

"Prescribed burning can go one for years after a thinning project," Rabon said. "We try to strategically plan those prescribed burns to be close-ish to a community or to some value at risk."

More:Lincoln National Forest does prescribed burn

The Three Rivers Fire and the Little Bear Fire in 2012 are in wilderness areas that are generally not subject to prescribed burns, Rabon said.

"We can do prescribed burns in wilderness areas but typically that doesn't happen," Rabon said. "This area had not been prescribed burned any time recently."

For more information about the Three Rivers Fire contact or visit:

• Fire Information Public Phone Line: 575-386-5077 
• InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7440/ 
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ThreeRiversFire2021 
• Wildfire Smoke and COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/smoke-faq.html

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.