An employee of the Albuquerque Interagency Dispatch Center stands at her desk to monitor wildfire starts, pictured May 2022. (Photo courtesy Cibola National Forest)
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has received “assurances” that wildfire dispatch centers monitoring a third of the state for wildfires will not close despite announced federal lease terminations, but the official signoff on keeping them open has not yet come from the federal General Services Administration, according to a spokesperson.
The Albuquerque and Silver City interagency dispatch centers are both housed in buildings on the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s list of lease terminations. Together, the dispatch centers’ coverage areas are more than 45,000 square miles, including Albuquerque in Central New Mexico and the Gila National Forest in Southwestern New Mexico.
The potential upheaval of the dispatch centers comes amid other federal Forest Service cuts and acute risk of wildfires in New Mexico in March and April, according to recent forecasts. The dispatch center in Albuquerque facilitated communications and initial response for 10 wildfire starts reported in its coverage area in the last 24 hours, for example, according to dispatch logs.
Despite the “assurances,” it’s still too soon to say whether the centers will remain open, said spokesperson Luis Soriano.
“Sen. Heinrich has received assurances that the dispatch centers will remain open, though we have not yet received official confirmation from GSA,” Soriano told Source New Mexico in a text message.
In response to an inquiry from Source New Mexico on Wednesday afternoon, GSA spokesperson Christi Chidester Votisek did not directly address the dispatch centers or the forest supervisor’s offices but said the administration is “reviewing all options to optimize the federal footprint and building utilization.”
The GSA statement also said the administration is “actively managing lease contracts,” which allows it to work with agencies on their longer-term needs and possibly negotiate better rent prices. If GSA decides to go forward with a cancellation, it would be in accordance with regular and well-accepted private industry contracting processes,” Chidester Votisek said.
The United States Forest Service, in an email, declined to comment.
The federal government has not been forthcoming about its plans for the dispatch centers or other details about how personnel cuts might affect the response to a potentially disastrous wildfire season. Staffers for members of Congress in the Southwest asked repeatedly for details about the employee terminations and the dispatch during a briefing last week but did not receive any answers, a Congressional aide told Source New Mexico.
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High winds in New Mexico amid prolonged drought make much of the state at high risk for wildfires. Three small fires are currently burning in the state, requiring state, local and federal resources, according to State Forestry spokesperson George Ducker.
All three fires – the Gail Hill Fire, the Pond Fire and the Milagro Fire – have burned less than 1,000 acres combined, Ducker said in an email Wednesday. More than 150 people are responding to all three blazes, Ducker said.
The three fires are:
- The Gail Hill Fire east of Cloudcroft has burned an estimated 235 acres and is 0% contained.
- The Pond Fire in Northern Socorro County has burned 97 acres and is 0% contained.
- The Milagro Fire in Torrance County near Interstate 40 has burned 600 acres and is 40% contained.
More information about those fires can be found at NMFireInfo.com.