Wildfires in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and California force thousands to evacuate, consume hundreds of structures
New Mexico. The Little Bear Fire located in Smokey Bear Ranger District, Lincoln National Forest, and the White Mountain Wilderness, has now grown to more than 26,000 acres (~ 41 sq miles; 105km²), destroying or damaging dozens of structures.
Evacuations: All campgrounds west of Bonito Lake; subdivisions of Villa Madonna, Enchanted Forest, Nogal Canyon (Forest Road 400, campground and summer homes), Angus, Sierra Vista, Sontara (1,2 and 3), Rancho Ruidoso, Copper Canyon, and Loma Grande; Eagle Lakes Campground, Eagle Creek summer homes, Ski Run Road (State Highway 532) at mile marker 3, State Highway 48 to Capitan, and State Highway 37 to Highway 380 and Ski Apache.
Shelters: First Baptist Church on Country Club Road, Church of Christ on Sudderth Road in Ruidoso, and Trinity Baptist Church in Capitan. Pets and livestock may be taken to J&J Country Church in Ruidoso, or the fairgrounds in Capitan.
The blaze is 0% contained, and is aided by air temps of 82ºF, relative humidity of less than 6 percent, and westerly winds of 20mph.
Colorado. The High Park Fire, located approximately 15 miles west of Fort Collins, was sparked Saturday June 9th and has consumed more than 20,000 acres (~ 31 sq miles; 81km²); the blaze continues to grow rapidly.
- The blaze has a HIGH growth potential among areas of rough terrain and beetle killed trees.
- The fire has damaged or destroyed at least 2 dozens structure, threatening many more.
- New evacuation order for the area south of County Road 38E from Gindler Ranch Road west to Milner Ranch Road (325 notifications). This area is located south and west of the Horsetooth Reservoir inlet. The High Park Fire is moving rapidly in this direction, Inciweb reported.
- Other evacuation orders include:
- Crystal Mountain area including Crystal Mountain Road and the Upper Buckhorn. The burning pattern of High Park Fire could potentially cut off exit routes for residents in this area and they should leave now (24 notifications).
- Any residents who have not already left the Crystal Mountain Area must now evacuate to the west on Buckhorn Road. County Road 27 is no longer passable so evacuation to the east is impossible.
- Evacuation orders have also been issued for the Bonner Peak Subdivision (183 notifications), Buckhorn Rd from CR27 to Pennock Pass and residents to the south approximately 3/4-1 mile. (69 notifications). Evacuation order issued for the area North of CR38E, from Horsetooth Reservoir to Redstone Canyon to Lory State Park. (326 notifications)
- Evacuations have been ordered for Stove Prairie Road north along County Road 27 to Highway 14, east along Highway 14 to approximately mile marker 111, southeast to Rist Canyon Fire Station 1, then back west to to include Wilderness Ridge Way, Rist Creek Road, Spring Valley Road and County Road 41 and all of the roads that run off of it.
- All of Rist Canyon (west of 27E) and all roads off of it, including Whale Rock Road and Davis Ranch Road. South 3 additional miles on County Road 44H to just north of Stringtown Gulch Road.
- At 11:10 P.M. an evacuation alert has been sent to the Poudre Park (along Highway 14) area from mile marker 111 to mile marker 118.
- Additionally Highway 14 from Ted’s Place to Stove Prairie is closed, as well as Stove Prairie Road and Rist Canyon. Additional evacuations as of approximately 5 a.m. Sunday include all residents from County Road 27E to Bellvue and for the area south and west of Bellvue, including Lory State Park and Red Stone Canyon, and Buckhorn Road from Masonville up to Stove Prairie School.
- Evacuation ordered for CR 29C and McMurry Ranch Road (33 notifications). Approximately 2,200 notifications (contacts, not residents) have been sent for evacuations on this fire.
Gila National Forest wildfire
New Mexico’s Gov. Martinez has already declared state of emergency in Catron County, where the largest wildfire in state’s history, Gila National Forest wildfire (Whitewater Baldy Complex fire), has consumed about 280,000 acres, with 37% contained.
The fire is currently aided by air temps of 86ºF, relative humidity of less than 7 percent.
See also: Disaster Declared as Little Bear Fire Grows
Wyoming. A wildfire in Wyoming’s Guernsey State Park has consumed ABOUT 4,000 acres and forced the evacuation of up to 1,000 campers and visitors, AP reported.
Other Major Fires include
- Arizona. Gladiator – 16,240 acres – Prescott National Forest – 45% contained.
- California. George Bush Fire – 1,707 acres – George Bush Tree/Golden Trout Wilderness – Sequoia National Forest – 85% contained.
- Colorado. Little Sand – 8,238 acres – San Juan National Forest – 13 miles NW of Pagosa Springs – 30% contained.
- Utah. Box Creek Fire – 5 miles west of Greenwich – 2,018 acres – 75% contained.
- Utah. Lost Lake Fires – 2,076 acres – Fishlake National Forest – 55% contained.
- Wyoming. Cow Camp Fire – 8,493 acres – Medicine Bow – Routt National Forest – 20 Miles NE of Wheatland – 70% contained.
Other Global Disasters, Significant Events
- China. Extreme rain events in southern China have left large parts of Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces submerged affecting millions of people.
- Thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed.
- Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated.
- Tens of thousands of hectares of crop have been destroyed.
- Flooding in Hunan province triggered massive landslides blocking major railroads, including Hukun Railway, which connects Shanghai and Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, a report said.
- The authorities reported about a dozen dead or missing.
- Hindu Kush, Afghanistan.Two earthquakes measuring 5.4 and 5.7Mw struck Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, about 175km north of Kabul.
- The quakes destroyed dozens of homes in Dara Azara, a remote village in the Baghlan province, burying about 100 people in the rubble, reports said.
Up-to-date weekly average CO2 at Mauna Loa (ESRL/Global Monitoring Division)
- Week of June 3, 2012: 395.38 ppm
- Weekly value from 1 year ago: 393.69 ppm
- Weekly value from 10 years ago: 375.82 ppm
The graph, updated weekly, shows as individual points daily mean CO2 up to and including the week (Sunday through Saturday) previous to today. The daily means are based on hours during which CO2 was likely representative of “background” conditions, defined as times when the measurement is representative of air at mid-altitudes over the Pacific Ocean. That air has had several days time or more to mix, smoothing out most of the CO2 variability encountered elsewhere, making the measurements representative of CO2 over hundreds of km or more. The selection process is designed to filter out any influence of nearby emissions, or removals, of CO2 such as caused by the vegetation on the island of Hawaii, and likewise emissions from the volcanic crater of Mauna Loa. The weekly mean (red bar) is simply the average of all days in the week for which a background value could be defined. The average standard deviation of day to day variability, calculated as the difference from the appropriate weekly mean, equals 0.38 ppm for the entire record. As a visual aid, the blue lines present monthly means of background data as they are presented under Recent Monthly CO2 at Mauna Loa. PDF Version. ESRL/Mauna Loa Global Monitoring Division.
Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background
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