Wildfire in Harding County, New Mexico

The Smith Wildfire ignited Tuesday, February 17th during extremely critical fire weather conditions. Strong southwest winds allowed it to quickly grow, but thankfully its location northeast of Mosquero allowed it to grow away from town. There were no known evacuation orders or damage from this fire as it eventually grew to 3,797 acres before waning February 22nd as winds subsided.

Extremely critical fire weather conditions highlighted by peak wind gusts of 55 to 70 mph alongside humidity ranging from 15 to 25 percent were present February 17th. This allowed for the Smith Wildfire to quickly grow out of control in Harding County approximately 3 miles northeast of Mosquero. Southwest winds combined with the location of the fire northeast of Mosquero allowed there to be no damage or evacuations resulting from this fire. It's growth subsided considerably after winds waned during the 20th to 22nd.