Because of the large amount of smoke in the area being generated on the southwest edge of the Las Conchas Fire, concerns have been raised and questions asked.

This smoke is from a backburn operation that is going as planned. Yesterday evening beginning about 6 pm, fire personnel lit a 400 foot wide strip of vegetation on the east side of FR 266, west of Ruiz Peak. Approximately two miles of roadside were ignited. The backburn operation will help firefighters secure this section of the fire perimeter, making the fire much less likely to escape its “box”.

“The burning operation is going well, with a good understory burn, good black line established, and all within the lines as planned.”

In short….it looks worse than it is.