Residents Return to Homes but Fire Peril Persists

Evacuees returned to their homes along the Rio Grande on Thursday as firefighters tried to stamp out the remnants of a smoldering blaze that transformed a riverside forest into a patchwork of black and gray.

“There will be pockets of fuel that could flare up,” said Perry Jewett, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter from Black Hills, S.D., called in to tackle the suspected arson fire that was sparked Wednesday night and scorched 165 acres.

About 200 firefighters were on the scene as two National Guard helicopters dumped massive buckets of water on the remnants of the blaze, which was 50% contained Thursday morning.

A federal fire management team arrived Thursday to offer assistance.

Incident Cmdr. Tim Sexton said that his team will work with city firefighters and other agencies to make sure the fire doesn’t flare up and that the public understands the danger of having such a large wild-land area within the city.

“The fire situation is extreme,” Sexton said. “There’s a potential for an accidental ignition to grow very quickly.”

The fire forced about 200 people to abandon their homes, many in fancy subdivisions in Albuquerque’s north valley. They began returning Thursday after spending the night in hotels or at the homes of friends and relatives.

“The sky was just orange,” said Marlene Roberts, who with her husband, David, fled their home after he placed garden sprinklers on the roof.

“We could see these huge flames, and then you’d see just huge fireballs and these loud explosions. It was so eerie, both fascinating and terrifying at the same time,” she said Thursday morning after she returned home.

The fire was the second one in the Rio Grande bosque in two days.

The first fire, just to the south of the second, burned 350 acres after it was started Tuesday. It was 75% contained Thursday.

Investigators were looking for an adult who might have been responsible for the second fire and for two juveniles who might have been touching off fireworks that sparked the first fire, Mayor Martin Chavez said.

The bosque -- popular with bicyclists, joggers, walkers, birders and nature lovers -- is laced with trails and features a paved path for cyclists and inline skaters.