Corrales fire fighters remain tight-lipped about what may have started the bosque wildfire June 20 although it is apparently being investigated as a police matter.

Fire Department Battalion Commander Tanya Lattin said June 28 the blaze that charred 7.8 acres in the Corrales Bosque Preserve and more than 250 acres on the east side of the river probably started here and crossed the river onto Sandia Pueblo land.

“We’re pretty sure it started on the Corrales side,” Lattin said. “We’re waiting for the State Forestry Division to finish its investigation.”

Fighting the fire here was “pretty straight forward,” she said. “I got on the scene fairly quickly, and the chief was coming back to Corrales from a meeting in Rio Rancho when he saw smoke in the bosque.”

On the Corrales side at least, the fire apparently started near the Romero Road entrance to the preserve and spread north more than three-quarters of the way to the Harvey Jones Flood Control Channel.

The Romero Road entrance has long been a favorite site for riverside picnics and sometimes even illegal camp fires. It was the location of one of the first rope swings that launched kids into the cold Rio Grande on hot summer days back in the 1970s.

The bosque trail there leads quickly to a small clearing with unobstructed access to the water. Years ago, camp fire coals were found there regularly. A cursory examination of that area after the bosque fire last month revealed no recent fire bed or other evidence that suggested a potential source for the June 20 blaze other than cigaret butts.

Besides, the southern edge of the burned area did not quite reach the popular picnicking area. A large cottonwood tree growing sideways that has been a favorite natural bench barely escaped the flames, but its branches reaching to the river were cut off in the fire fighting effort.

The bosque is relatively narrow in that section so most of the trees, shrubs and grasses in that area were seriously burned if not killed.

Ten days later, Village officials declared the preserve closed to visitors. No indication was given as to when it might be reopened. Corrales’ closure coincided with similar restrictions in Sandoval County, Bernalillo County and less so within the City of Albuquerque’s bosque. 

Lattin said July 2 the west side of the Corrales Riverside Drain, or Clear Ditch, and the adjacent irrigation ditch banks will remain open during the closure.

Commander Lattin said fire fighters had the equipment they needed to gain control of the fire relatively quickly on the Corrales side, although “the winds were weird” with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. “The wind was blowing out the southwest, but it flipped back on us several times,” she recalled.

While crews from several agencies battled the blaze on Sandia Pueblo lands almost around the clock, the action in Corrales was mostly mop up, dousing smoldering wood and taking down dangerous tree remnants after the initial attack.

Fire fighters were stationed in the bosque here all night June 20-21 to quickly attack any fires that might ignite from embers blown over the river from Sandia’s continuing blaze.

Water in the Clear Ditch (Riverside Drain) and in the Rio Grande was sprayed directly onto flames using submersible pumps. Large buckets of water were scooped up by aircraft and dumped on the blaze throughout much of that Wednesday afternoon.

Lattin said the Corrales bosque fire was entirely contained on the east side of the levee; no  homes, structures or trees west of the Clear Ditch were in imminent danger.

As the fire fighting effort played out that afternoon, the wide mouth of the Jones channel was regarded as an adequate firebreak to keep the flames from spreading north through the bosque, while a team of fire fighters were stationed along the Romero Road trail to keep the blaze from advancing to the south. Immediate attention was given to the trees nearest the levee to reduce potential that tree crown fires there could  blow across the levee and the Clear Ditch ignite brush, leaves and trees around homes bordering the preserve.

Containing the fire did not require bulldozers or other heavy equipment to  scrape the bosque floor bare to stop the fire from spreading.

Corrales Bosque Advisory Commission Chairman Mark Kaib surveyed the fire scene and reported that evening, “The fire severity was mixed from low to high, and with areas that burned very  hot. I would roughy guess 30 percent high severity where most damage to trees will be sustained.” 

He said it was similar in effects to the earlier Cabezon fire.

Lattin had praise for the high level of coordination among fire fighting units from multiple agencies in the metro area as well as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Assistance from villagers and businesses was also much appreciated, she said. “The citizens were fantastic. They brought us coolers full of ice and water,  cupcakes and home-made cookies. 

Village Pizza and Dion’s brought  pizza and 30 cases of bottled water were donated, she said.

Outside the preserve, villagers prepared for the worst, especially those with horses and other livestock that might need to be evacuated if the fire spread to the west.

Preparations were made for horses to  be corralled at Frank Larrabee’s ranch west of Paseo Cesar Chavez, farther north and west in the valley, and at the Corrales Recreation Center’s TopForm Arena. But several horse owners were not aware of those pre-arrangements and responded to broadcast reports directing that evacuated horses be driven to the State Fairgrounds.