Opinion: Fire spotlights troubling culture in forest service

An 85-page U.S. Forest Service review of the origins of the Hermits Peak Fire suggests the biggest wildfire in state history was caused in large part by a breakdown in protocols. But the review also revealed a troubling culture problem within the service.

The review conducted by the Forest Service itself said a local team faced pressure to “accomplish the mission,” possibly leading to the crew to take greater risks in a rush to catch up on prescribed burns after postponements in many burn projects due to the COVID-19 pandemic and litigation.

The desire to mitigate wildfire threat through prescribed burns is understandable — even commendable. But it is far from acceptable to ignore protocols aimed at keeping the forest safe — and any culture that promotes that needs changing.

The report says the local team made a series of mistakes including relying too much on regional weather forecasts instead of on-the-ground observations, underestimating how dry the Santa Fe National Forest was, and then failing to ensure sufficient water resources and logistical support were available in case something went wrong.

The team proceeded anyway on April 6 with the prescribed burn west of Las Vegas, New Mexico, when faced with a narrow window for the project.

The review noted crews thinned fuels along control lines prior to the burn, but found that fuels outside the burn boundary were extremely likely to ignite and create spot fires. Prep work may have in fact worsened the potential for a runaway wildfire with natural debris “concentrated fuels into jackpots.”

The Las Dispensas prescribed burn fire soon escaped project boundaries and turned into the Hermits Peak Fire, which merged in late April with the Calf Canyon Fire to become the largest wildfire in state history. And where were the firefighting crews tasked with helping out if the burn jumped its containment lines? They were nearly two hours away at a fire training summit in Taos.

The combined fire has destroyed at least 400 homes, forced up to 18,000 people to evacuate their properties across several northern New Mexico counties, cost more than $248 million in firefighting expenses, taken an unknown toll on wildlife, livestock, pets and irreplaceable family treasures and burned more than 341,000 acres.

And the calamity isn’t over yet as communities below burn scars prepare for likely landslides and flash flooding. The Forest Service, which manages almost a third of the state’s forested lands and 25% of our fishing habitat, predicts ash will flow into streams, rivers and acequias, possibly overwhelming water treatment facilities and harming water quality for years to come.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says she’s “deeply frustrated by the numerous missteps” identified in the review, while U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents the burned area, called the findings “incredibly disturbing.” They’re both right. The governor notes it doesn’t appear anyone involved in the prescribed burn “was held to account for the significant mistakes made during this burn.”

— Albuquerque Journal