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Bandelier National Monument Threatened By Cerro Pelado Fire

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By Kurt Repanshek - May 9th, 2022

A corner of Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico was threatened Monday by flames from the Cerro Pelado wildfire, which was burning through "very dry" forestlands and being fanned by wind gusts approaching 45 mph.

Nearly 900 firefighters, backed by aerial water and fire retardent drops, bulldozers to carve fire breaks, and fire-spitting helicopters to start backfires, were struggling to make progress against the flames.

By Monday morning the fire covered nearly 41,000 acres, with containment lines gouged around just 11 percent of the fire's perimeter. Flames were licking the northwestern corner of Bandelier where the national monument touches Valles Caldera National Preserve, which had fire along a small portion of its southeastern border. 

Both units of the National Park System have been closed by the fire, which was reported April 22.

"Critical weather is expected again today as strong southwest winds combine with low relative humidities and very dry fuels," the Monday morning fire briefing report noted. "Sustained winds of 20-25 mph with gusts to around 45 mph will be fairly common over most areas, especially the higher elevations and exposed ridges, with lighter winds in some of the lower canyons."

Feeding the flames were dry brush and stands of stands of ponderosa pine and mixed conifers.

National Park Service personnel could not be reached to discuss the fire's approach towards Bandelier, though firefighters and NPS personnel were said to be proactively wrapping structures in the monument with fire-resistant materials, installing sprinkler systems, and removing ground fuels and low-hanging limbs that could provide a "ladder" for flames to climb up into trees.

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