Hi Fireshed Members,
Smoke is in the air and wildfire season is still underway. With drought across northern New Mexico, fuel moistures are abnormally low, and wildfires continue to burn within the dry fuels.
Although northern New Mexico received a close to normal amount of snow during the 2019-2020 water year, the timing of that snow was early in the season, creating the dry, late summer conditions that firefighters are working within.
To help you stay informed and provide some relief from smoke, this Wildfire Wednesday includes:
Instructional video for creating a DIY HEPA air filter for around $25
Webpages for finding accurate, up-to-date wildfire information
Best,
Gabe
Find Relief from Wildfire Smoke: Create a DIY Smoke Filter for $25
With wildfire smoke from The Medio Fire and the Caja Fire, you may be looking for some relief. Although The Fireshed Coalition coordinates a HEPA filter loan program, we are currently out of filters for loaning out. Below are some alternative options for managing the health effects from wildfire smoke in your home.
Make your own HEPA filter with parts from a local hardware store for about $25. To view a video produced by a University of Michigan Health experts, click here.
Follow precautions to stay safe from smoke without a HEPA filter. To read some ways that you can limit your exposure to smoke, click here.
Purchase a HEPA air cleaner. To view some useful information about purchasing a HEPA filter for your home on our website, click here.
Wildfire Information across New Mexico
For the most accurate and up-to-date information on wildfires and fire restrictions across New Mexico subscribe to the New Mexico Fire Information mailing list by visiting nmfireinfo.com. New Mexico Fire information is an interagency effort by federal and state agencies in New Mexico to provide timely, accurate fire and restriction information for the entire state. The website is updated as new information is available.
To follow a wildfire incident longer-term, after it has been described on New Mexico Fire Information, you can visit The Incident Information System at inciweb.nwcg.gov. The Incident Information System, commonly referred to as inciweb, is an interagency all-risk incident information management system that was designed to: 1. Provide the public a single source of incident related information, and 2. Provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs community. This tool has an interactive map viewer that allows you to see all the wildfires that are active across the state and across the entire country.