Wildfire — Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

2024-05-24 to 2024-05-31 · Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

Cloud to ground lightning started the Indios wildfire in a remote area of the Chama River Canyon 7 miles north of the village of Coyote, NM on May 19th. The wildfire burned through the remote wilderness growing in size to 450 acres by the 21st. Critical fire weather conditions on May 24th and 25th allowed the fire to rapidly grow in size to 1,809 acres on the 24th and to 2,619 through the 25th. The fire grew to 8,733 acres by the end of the month with 25 percent containment. No damage or loss of life has been reported with this fire.

Wider weather episode

Critical fire weather conditions allowed the remote Indios Wildfire to grow rapidly on May 24th and 25th within the Chama River Canyon just upstream of Abiquiu Lake. The fire has burned in remote wilderness with little to no threat to property or livelihoods. The fire has been managed with the only impacts mainly being from smoke settling to surrounding areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1170231. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.