NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – As California continues to fight the wildfire fueled by high winds, a New Mexico team is there to help. “It’s an honor to be able to be a part of it and to show that we’re here,” said Nathan Miller, Wildland Superintendent for the City of Santa Fe and Strike Team leader.
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The team of 25 personnel from fire agencies across New Mexico drove to California last week to help crews there fight the flames. Working on-and-off 24-hour shifts, Miller said they were first assigned to help protect neighborhoods. “Looking through the homes on the outside of it, scraping any vegetation away from it, from the house the best we could to prevent any encroachment of fire potential,” said Miller.
The New Mexico crews were also assigned to do what’s known as “cold-mopping,” which is hiking intense hills to make sure there are no hotspots near the fire line. Miller said these types of fires are becoming more common. “I will relate them to the Calf Canyon Hermits Peak Fire along with the South Fork and Salt Fire just because all of them are like this one, what I see is wind-driven,” said Miller. “When you have wind-driven fire there’s a lot of, you know, a lot of property is lost at that point in time, unfortunately.”…