Civil Air Patrol volunteers spot Pacheco Fire

June 23, 2011—Lab employees Mike Strevell of Project Management, and Bill Wolfe of Fire Protection provided the initial report of the Pacheco Canyon forest fire currently burning near the Santa Fe Ski Basin.

The two men are volunteers with the Los Alamos Civil Air Patrol Squadron and were on a photo reconnaissance training flight when they spotted the white plume of smoke rising northwest of Santa Fe at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. Strevell quickly turned their aircraft, a Cessna 182, toward the plume, and minutes later they were over the fire, where Wolfe captured the location coordinates with their on-board Global Positioning Satellite system.

They immediately passed the coordinates to the U.S. Forest Service via radio, resulting in two fire-fighting planes being launched within minutes.

Even though the blaze was reported quickly, high winds and extremely dry conditions have made it difficult to control. Strevell estimated the fire was less than an acre when they first spotted it, but by Thursday it was reported at 5,500 acres.

In analyzing their photo reconnaissance imagery, Wolfe estimated that based on the 60-foot tall ponderosa pine trees present, the flames were probably at least 100-feet high when they spotted the fire. The flames have been visible from Los Alamos all week. The USFS currently reports the Pacheco Fire as 10 percent contained.

During this unusually dry season, all employees should continue to exercise extreme fire caution and report any potentially hazardous fire conditions.