Wallow Fire Update from Reserve USFS & Catron County Manager

USFS Info Officer, Sharma Hutchinson, Reserve District (Gila National Forest)

• Quemado Fire District has experienced fires from lighting but are dealing with it.
• As of approximately 5:30 the Wallow Fire has not crossed into in NM 
• There were spot fires ahead of the main fire north of Luna Lake and west of Nutrioso.  The fire is going up the side of Escudilla Mountain
• Apache County is coordinating the evacuation of Escudilla Bonita, Coyote Creek and the area because even though those communities are NM, the fire is not - it is still in AZ and therefore the AZ command has control.  If the fire crosses the line, the AZ teams already on the fire will still be in command.  USFS Gila NF and Catron County fire would fit in through a delegation of authority and would become part of the fire team.  The GNF & Catron team has contingency plans but they are on hold.  
• There is more than normal smoke in Catron County because there has been a back burn just over the state line in AZ.   
• At Luna still just notification of smoke/air quality.  

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Catron County Manger Bill Aymar reporting from the NM team, situated in Luna

• Fire did jump Hwy 180, driven by winds.  
• The AZ team felt they had imminent danger and ordered the evacuation without notifying Catron County, however Catron County Sheriff's Department personnel are helping the evacuation at this moment.  Access to those subdivisions is primarily from AZ anyway, so it's better in a way for AZ to take control. 
• There were at least 4 spot fires from lightning in New Mexico.  They have been handled by the Quemado Fire District with help of USFS.

"We are hearing that Incident Command may be moving the incident command post to Luna from Alpine," Bill Aymar said.  "We are in the mode of waiting to see where the command post will be in Luna - either community center or rodeo grounds.

I just saw borite bombers flying over Luna FD a few minutes ago," Aymar said.  "They are a very valuable asset."

"It's hard not to get nervous and panicky," Aymar continued, "but from the plan we've put together with NM Forestry, we're on course.   We knew we'd have lightning fires so we positioned people for that.  We knew there would be heavy smoke from the back burns and we have warned people about that."

As for the confusion, Aymar said, "This fire is so big, there are thousands of people involved, so many layers of bureaucracy - it's unwieldy but I think we're OK."