As I write this, the Weatherunderground gizmo says the ‘official’ temperature in Las Cruces is 102! The thermometer at my house reads 100! Needless to say, it is hot. It is also dry. The humidity has been in single digits, and never above 20%. Of course my swamp coolers are very efficient at that low level, they’ve been keeping the inside in the 70’s. Even though we live in the desert with little vegetation, these high temperatures and low humidity have made the little vegetation we have very dry and the fire danger is high. Saturday (6/14) afternoon, a grass fire started in the Dripping Springs Natural Area. It quickly spread over the ridge into Soledad Canyon, and appeared to be heading down the canyon towards our area.
Saturday night we were treated to the sight of a line of fire, heading down the mountain. And, Sunday morning the flames appeared to be very close to the houses nearest the mountains. By Sunday afternoon though, a wind out of the Northwest blew the fire back on itself, and with the help of backfires set by the fire fighters, the advance towards our neighborhood was stopped. The fire did blow up over the mountains and into Ft Bliss. When it headed east, it sent up an impressive smoke column. I have posted a few photos in my gallery, in the “Views Around the Neighborhood” album. Here is a link.
Fortunately, no houses were damaged, and only a few homes closest to the mountains were evacuated. I was never worried, but I was concerned. If the fire had gotten into the housing area, it could have spread faster and might have threatened the whole neighborhood. But, that never happened. A friend of mine sent me a great photo of the fire taken Saturday night. I will post it as soon as I get permission.