People forced to evacuate because of the Frijoles Fire were able to head back home Friday afternoon. Santa Fe County lifted the “Go” evacuation status for Camino de Cañon near Cundiyó at about 3:00 p.m..
The county lifted the evacuation because of increased containment on the western perimeter of the fire.
According to the ArcGIS NM Fire Viewer, which consolidates real-time data from multiple federal, state, and local agencies, most of the Frijoles Fires hotspots are located along the eastern and southern reaches of the fire.
Camino de Cañon is the only area to have been evacuated so far. Shawna Graves, communication coordinator for Santa Fe county, told KUNM the area only has about 8 to -10 homes total, but they were all contacted and made aware they can return.
Graves said the entirety of the Cundiyó and Cerro Piñon communities are now in “Set” status.
“Residents should continue to be vigilant and prepared in case conditions change. Make a plan to leave,”’ she said. “If evacuation orders are issued, know what your plan would be, but at this time there have been enough improvements that evacuation orders have been lifted.”
The Borrego Mesa area was also in “Set” status, but Graves said this part of the forest is uninhabited and currently closed to the public — visitors should avoid it entirely.
Nambée Pueblo Lake and Falls Recreation Area remained in “Ready” status, which means to be prepared for possible evacuations.
According to the latest update on Friday morning, the Frijoles Fire had burned more than 15,000 acres and was 38% contained with almost 1,000 personnel on site.
Evacuation status can be found on the county’s website and may change at any time.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
