It seems that just about every year, a fire breaks out in the Organ mountains. The eastern side of the mountains are all US military installations. Directly on the other side of the mountains from us is the White Sands missile range. Just south of White Sands is a ‘live-fire’ range that is part of Ft Bliss, a massive army base in El Paso. Since terrain and summer heat around here bears a similarity to areas of Afghanistan and Iraq, the army uses the range frequently. It is common to hear explosions from the other side at our house. It has also become a tradition that wildfires break out almost yearly on the Organ mountain areas of Ft Bliss. Last Tuesday, a wildfire started on the eastern slopes of the mountains. On Tuesday and Wednesday, there was quite a lot of smoke and a distinct glow in the night sky, but it appeared that the fire was being contained… Until today.
This morning, I noticed an increase in aircraft near our house and went outside to look. Sure enough, there was an impressive column of smoke rising from the mountains, and all day there was a steady string of air drops by fire bombers. Tonight, the fire has crested the mountains, and there is a line of fire slowly moving down the mountains. Fortunately, it is still a good distance away from our house, and the sparse vegetation does not lend itself to a rapid advance, still, it is disconcerting to see this fire that has been burning for a week making headway.
- A fire fighting tanker drops fire retardent on the Organ Mountains fire
