Bad N.M. weather aids Ariz. firefighters

Extraordinary weather in New Mexico is leaving Arizona with better access to the equipment and machinery needed to fight wildfires in the state.

Thanks to an abundance of inclement weather this winter in that state, Arizona is less likely to have to compete for firefighting resources, officials said.

“New Mexico easily got twice as much snow as it usually does,” said Chuck Maxwell, a meteorologist with the Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque, N.M., which directs wildland firefighting in Arizona and New Mexico and west Texas.

“The bottom line is there is not a lot of potential (for fires) unless something really dramatic were to happen.”

Arizona officials have already called up dozens of airplanes and helicopters and hundreds of firefighters to battle blazes erupting around the state.

Having those diverse resources at the ready is crucial to fighting any fire. When a wildfire breaks out, an incident commander, or fire boss, looks to local and regional sources first when requesting more firefighters, engines and air support.

“We go for the closest available resource to try to minimize travel time,” said Jeff Whitney, an incident commander. “They can be there in less than an hour.”

According to the National Weather Service, Roswell, N.M. received 1.45 inches of precipitation this year. It normally gets 0.58 inches.

And Albuquerque received 1.06 inches of precipitation this year, compared to the norm of 0.50.

“From the Continental Divide and eastward there were epic amounts of rain and snowfall,” Maxwell said.

In comparison, Flagstaff received 2.90 inches of precipitation, down from its normal 8.65 inches.

And Phoenix received 0.21 inches, close to the 0.25 average.

“The whole winter, we expected storms to drop into Arizona,” Maxwell said. “It didn’t turn out that way. New Mexico just got pummeled.”

The dry Arizona forests are predicted to have plenty of fire activity. Some areas are already seeing action.

This week alone, the Monkey fire near Flagstaff burned 65 acres, the Ponderosa fire near Payson burned 10 acres and the Promontory fire currently burning near Payson had spread to more than 4,000 acres by late Sunday.

“This year, the firefighting resources are about the same as last year,” said U.S. Forest spokesman Jim Payne. “We’re in pretty good shape.

Arizona has 11 Hotshot crews scattered throughout the state.

These 20-member teams fight the fire on the land, scraping vegetation and creating defensible areas near the fire line.

Arizona also has 15 crews from the state Department of Corrections, Whitney said.

The inmates must meet certain criteria, such as not being convicted of a violent crime and having less than a year left on their sentences, said Cliff Pearlberg of the Arizona Land Department.

“They go through the same firefighter training as any other firefighter would go through,” he said. “Once they’re out there, I view them as firefighters.”

And there are a number of air tankers, helicopters and other air support available at a moment’s notice.

There will be 16 large air tankers available nationwide, Payne said.

“They are sent to the highest priority,” he said. “They are moved around where they are needed.”

If the efforts in Arizona exceed the regional limits, crews are brought in from other areas around the nation through a highly organized dispatch system, Whitney said.

“I am confident we have never gotten to the point where we’ve exhausted the fire fighting resources available nationally,” he said.

Resources available in the Southwest

2 Type I Incident Management Teams: Consist of members from several agencies, manage large incidents with more than 500 people assigned and handle all fire operations.

5 Type II Incident Management Teams: Similar to Type I teams, but usually handle incidents with less than 500 people.

20 firefighter crews: Work on engines, helicopters, ground defense

19 planes: Used for surveying the fire and dropping water or retardant

19 helicopters: Used for transport of supplies or personnel, dropping water Source: Southwest Coordination Center