As of the most recent count, the Rock House Fire has burned 215,275 acres, and is still considered 75% contained.
Yesterday ground crews and aerial resources on the Rock House Fire continued to provide structure protection along the northern flank of the fire which moved actively within Madera Canyon. A burnout operation of approximately 8,000 acres was conducted around the McDonald Observatory in anticipation of a wind shift starting late Monday night/Tuesday morning that could shift the direction of the fire spread toward the east and south.
We just spoke to Leslie Auriemmo of the National Forest Service's Southern Area Incident Management Team. The Southern Area Incident Management Team is currently seeking to start more controlled burns in an effort to further protect Limpia Crossing and the McDonald Observatory. However, Jeff Davis County Judge George Grubb did not approve the request for the burn. As of this posting, the Southern Area Incident Management Team is meeting with Judge Grubb in an attempt to get approval for the additional burns. KRTS was unable to reach Judge Grubb for comment prior to the meeting. 4 PM UPDATE: Spoke to Leslie Auriemmo again, and the additional burns will not be happening.
Today, structure protection efforts will continue above the northern flank of the fire, scouting operations and control line construction will continue as well. Six helicopters will be available to aid ground crews in fire suppression. Firefighters expect peak burning time and very active fire behavior from 4-6 PM due to high temperatures, single digit relative humidity and west winds at 25mph with gusts of 35mph.
The National Forest Service also reminds everyone to be vigilant since fires have the ability to start easily and grow rapidly.