Three Wildfires Burn in the Manzano Mountains as Neighbors Step In to Feed Crews

The Whiskey, Blanco, and Cerro fires have burned roughly 49 acres combined near Fourth of July Canyon, and a local retreat center is cooking meals for firefighters bedding down nearby

MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. — Janette Bell, of Manzano Mountain Retreat, watched a thin white line of smoke over the ridge above Manzano Mountain Retreat thicken into something she could smell from her porch.

“I just called the other guys that live here. We have animals, so I called Noel, and I said, just be on call,” Bell said in an interview Tuesday, August 25, 2026. Bell is a volunteer firefighter who, along with several others who own or work at the retreat, has spent the past several days tracking three wildfires burning within a few miles of the property.

By Tuesday night, the retreat center had also become a kitchen for the crews fighting those fires. Bell said she was feeding 33 firefighters that night and expected 55 the following night, after the Shaffer Hotel restaurant, which normally feeds crews during fire season, became overwhelmed by the size of the response.

The three fires — named (in order from south to north) Whiskey, Blanco, and Cerro by the US Forest Service — are burning within the Manzano Mountain Wilderness and the surrounding Manzano Mountains of the Cibola National Forest’s Mountainair Ranger District, southwest and west of Fourth of July Canyon. As of Wednesday, August 26, 2026, the Forest Service and Watch Duty listed the fires at a combined estimate of roughly 49 acres, with no containment percentage reported for any of the three. Firefighters have been staging out of the Fourth of July Campground, where an incident command post has been established, and crews report the fires as active.

Whiskey Fire grows to 22 acres in steep, inaccessible terrain

The Whiskey Fire was the first of the three to start, reported at 1:50 PM MDT on Friday, August 21, 2026, by the Capilla Peak Lookout after lightning struck steep terrain north of Osha Peak, south of Capilla Peak, and west of the Manzano Crest Trail. The Forest Service’s initial size estimate was a half acre.

By the following Tuesday, the fire had grown to 22 acres. According to the Forest Service’s August 25 update, the terrain that makes the fire visible from so much of the valley also makes it hard to fight directly.

“This fire is burning mixed conifer vegetation in a location of inaccessible steep terrain where it is difficult to safely insert firefighters for direct extinguishment,” the release states. “With a lack of natural barriers, steep terrain, and dry fuels, the Whiskey Fire has grown to 22 acres in the Manzano Mountain Wilderness. Fire managers are planning and crews will be executing a strategic plan which incorporates the realities of the landscape and conditions.”

Initial responding resources included a Cibola National Forest engine crew and an engine crew from Florida, an early sign of the mutual aid the response would draw on. Smoke from the Whiskey Fire has been visible from the west side of the Manzano Mountains, Mountainair, Manzano, Punta de Agua, and Torreon. The Dispatch first reported on the Whiskey Fire the weekend it started.

Blanco and Cerro fires threaten Fourth of July Campground, Inlow Youth Camp

Two more fires started within the Manzano Mountains on Monday, August 24, 2026, both reported by the Capilla Peak Lookout.

The Cerro Fire was reported at 1:02 PM MDT, west of Fourth of July Canyon in the Manzano Mountain Wilderness, and was attributed to lightning. The Blanco Fire followed at 3:40 PM MDT, southwest of Fourth of July Canyon, with a cause the Forest Service lists as undetermined.

The Forest Service’s Tuesday release estimated the Cerro Fire at 7 acres and the Blanco Fire at 17 acres, both showing active to moderate fire behavior in timber and mixed conifer fuels. A fire perimeter map uploaded to the National Interagency Fire Center that same evening, and visible on the Watch Duty app, placed the two fires at 5.3 acres and 21.4 acres, respectively — figures Watch Duty cautions are preliminary and reflect general burn area rather than a confirmed final tally or a measure of which structures firefighters have protected.

Crews from the US Forest Service, the New Mexico Forestry Division, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are working both fires directly, aided by multiple aerial retardant drops that allowed ground crews to make progress establishing firelines around the perimeters. The Forest Service lists the Fourth of July Campground and recreation area, along with the Inlow Youth Camp, as the values most at risk from both fires.

Smoke from the Blanco and Cerro fires has been visible from Chilili, Tajique, Torreon, Manzano, Punta de Agua, and the Estancia Valley.

A retreat center pitches in again

Manzano Mountain Retreat Center sits on 130 acres inside the Cibola National Forest and typically hosts youth camps, family reunions, and corporate retreats. This fire season, it has become a supply point.

Bell said the retreat has offered up its pond and pool as a water source for helicopter dips, something it has done in past fire seasons as well. “[I want to see] some freaking helicopters out here and empty my pool, empty my pond, do something,” Bell said. “We got the water. Come and get it. They’ll do it. They did it last year and the year before.”

Bell said she and others who live and work at the retreat, including Jesse, Jeanette, and Terry, are staying in close contact with Arlene Perea, acting ranger and range management specialist for the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands, and are watching the fires’ progress on the Watch Duty app alongside their neighbors. The retreat has an evacuation plan in place for guests, tied to an alarm system on the property.

“If you hear our alarm go off, you need to just grab your stuff, get in your car, and head out, and let me know you’re off the property,” Bell said she told a guest earlier that day. By the same token, Bell said she was confident that the wildfires in the area would be contained and would not affect any of the weddings scheduled on the property.

Despite the fire activity, Bell said the retreat has not had to cancel any events. She also reminded readers of the upcoming 2026 Apple Harvest Festival, running weekends from Saturday, September 26, through Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The festival is set to feature apples, craft cider, Jesse’s apple cider donuts, mini highland cows and donkeys, a vendor market, and live entertainment.

What residents should know

Fire managers are asking the public to avoid the fire areas and adjoining trails so crews can work safely, and remind residents that drones grounded aircraft last fire season and can do so again this year.

The Fourth of July Campground, a popular recreation spot in the Manzano Mountains, remains listed as at risk from the Blanco and Cerro fires.

Weather conditions across the district have stayed warm and mostly dry, with the National Weather Service forecasting a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms Wednesday, August 26, 2026, and highs near 91 degrees — conditions that could either help crews or, as with the Whiskey Fire’s lightning start, spark new activity.

Torrance County residents are also encouraged to sign up for TextMyGov emergency alerts to receive real-time notifications tailored to their needs:

• Text TORRANCE COUNTY to 80946 for general notifications and emergency alerts.
• Text TORRANCE FIRE ALERTS to 80946 for information on prescribed burns or active fires in the area.
• Text TORRANCE NWS to 80946 to receive weather-related alerts.

The Dispatch will continue to follow all three fires as new information becomes available.

Update, August 26, 2026, 1:12 PM: The Whiskey Fire has been updated to 50 acres in size.