FAR WEST TEXAS – A fire continues to burn through Big Bend National Park’s Chisos Mountains, extending through over 929 acres of the remote “sky island” in the past week. Well-placed resources, the natural topography and the response from 88 firefighters and personnel have helped slow the spread of The South Rim Fire that developed under red flag conditions, where high temperatures, low humidity and high wind combined to increase the risks of a fire.
Just days before the fire started, the Texas Forest Service was closely monitoring the dangerous conditions in West Texas. On April 6, TFS placed five single-engine air tankers at a base in Alpine due to extreme conditions; within two days, all five would be deployed to drop fire retardant over the South Rim fire in Big Bend.
At 1:30 p.m. last Thursday, reports came in of smoke at the South Rim in the Chisos mountains. The weather conditions were favorable for fire, but wind pushed the flames to a cliff edge, which created a natural barrier that delayed the fire’s spread in the first hours of the burn. The remote rock outcroppings were also a tough barrier for the first firefighters who arrived on scene, who had to make hours-long hikes just to reach the burn.
Campgrounds, the lodge and trails in the Chisos were closed down in the following hours, as smoke billowed high above the park, visible from as far as Terlingua.
In the ensuing days, fire crews from the park were joined by the Diablos crew from Mexico and the Mount Taylor Hotshots from New Mexico, pushing the fire crew to 69 individuals. Park pack mules were used to bring water and resources to the firefighters.
The Big Bend area has teetered between exceptional and extreme drought classifications in the past year, with many grasses and trees drying out or dying in the process. While grasses can grab onto humidity which fluctuates in the area, trees are much less capable of adjusting quickly, making them dangerously dry tinder for fires.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, though the park will carry out an investigation once the fire has been fully extinguished. “Everybody wants to know that, but we really haven’t had a chance to do much investigation,” said Tom VandenBerg, the park’s chief of interpretation who is serving as the fire information officer. What is known is that the fire began at the southwest corner of the South Rim, near a fairly popular backcountry campsite and a nearby composting toilet.
Closures at the East Rim for peregrine falcon nesting this time of year drive visitors to relax, eat lunch and enjoy the view right near the origin of the fire. “We can’t say for sure, but it’s surmised that human activity had to do with it,” the fire information officer said. “That will be investigated.”
On Saturday, the fire was traveling toward Boot Canyon, where firefighters defended the Boot Cabin and corrals, non-historic structures that nevertheless provide the vital resource of water collection in that area of the park. They successfully conducted a back burn to protect those structures, and afterward began using the building as a base to get water and much needed sleep.
By late Monday, the park received another Hotshot crew, from Carson National Forest in New Mexico. The fire had already blazed through woodlands and grasses, spreading below the “boot” rock formation in Boot Canyon and ascending to the peak of Toll Mountain just west of the iconic Casa Grande formation.
After six days of fighting, a cool front brought better temperatures and more humidity by Tuesday. “Several fingers of active burning continue in lower Boot Canyon, Juniper Canyon, and the high ridges of Toll Mountain,” the park announced.
At press time, the fire is 35% contained, with much more of it stagnant. VandenBerg estimated two thirds of the fire “is de facto contained by rocks and cliffs.” There have been no injuries and no structural damages.
VandenBerg said the park plans to open the Chisos campground and lodge as soon as safely possible, but doesn’t forecast that happening for another week. “There’s still active fire in the Chisos and we won’t be opening until that’s tackled.”
“The trails, we will have to take them one at a time. I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be able to reopen the Window Trail and Lost Mine Trail fairly quickly,” he said, but rehabilitation work is expected for high country trails near the south rim, to clear away any downed trees or trail damage.
While the fires have concerned park visitors, VandenBerg cautioned against any panic. “It’s always scary to see a fire and see the smoke, but we’re not looking at this as a tragedy.” In fact, early aerial looks at the fire have revealed a “patchy mosaic,” where land ranges from scorched and singed to untouched, from the South Rim and Emory Peak to Lower Boot Canyon.
Sky islands like the Chisos Mountains form when deserts in the low lying areas encroach for thousands of years, pushing plant and animal species to reside in the higher elevations which still offer cool forests and habitable climates.
Among the sky island’s residents are the Colima Warbler, a bird that resides in the Chisos and almost nowhere else in the United States. VandenBerg said that while birders worried about the habitat burning, firefighters reported the warblers were still singing on Tuesday, much to the relief park staff and guests. “The fire for the most part was moderate and not super super intensive, and also patchy which is what we want to see in that habitat,” VandenBerg said.
The National Wildfire Coordinating Group stated in their report on the incident, “Fire is natural in these desert woodland sky islands, and many of the areas that have burned have had no cleansing fire in probably over 75 years.” Persistent dry conditions over many years led to lots of dead trees and brush in the area. According to VandenBerg, the fire could help regenerate some of the growth that has been lost.
“Without fires coming through to clear out that dry and dead brush, it’s hard for new trees to start,” he said. “Ecologically, it’s definitely not a disaster, but it will change the way things look up there.”