Cemetery Fire

A fire that burned more than 300 acres of bosque in southern Valencia County kept county, state and federal fire agencies up around the clock in early June.

After driving to the end of Desi Loop and walking about a half mile to the edge of Belen’s west mesa, Jesse Espinoza was able to capture the massive smoke plume from the Cemetery Fire, which scorched 319 acres of bosque north of N.M. 346.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Espinoza
After driving to the end of Desi Loop and walking about a half mile to the edge of Belen’s west mesa, Jesse Espinoza was able to capture the massive smoke plume from the Cemetery Fire, which scorched 319 acres of bosque north of N.M. 346.

The Cemetery Fire — so called for a pet cemetery near the fire’s origin — started shortly after noon on Saturday, June 12, on the east side of the Rio Grande just north of N.M. 346, then jumped to the west side.

Winds picked up that evening adding to the difficulty of getting the fire under control. While the fire devastated about 319 acres of wildland habitat, no homes were lost to the blaze despite being in close proximity to residential areas.

After an extensive investigation, the origin and cause report on the Cemetery Fire concluded the fire was human caused, but due to the lack of evidence at the scene and conflicting hypothesis, the precise cause was undetermined.

(Page 6/10; story continues on next page)

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