Update: Fire continues to burn at Portales peanut processing plant

VIDEO: Several buildings at a New Mexico peanut plant are a total loss as a fire burns more than a week after it started. That fire started on Monday at the Hampton Farms facility in Portales forcing an evacuation of the plant. The Portales Fire Department says the blaze started outside the building and was contained a few hours later but flared up again the next morning. One person was sent to the hospital. The fire department issued an update on Monday and said the department is allowing the remainder of products inside the warehouses to burn. PFD says firefighters will remain on scene. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
KRQE-TV CBS/FOX 13 Albuquerque

Rangers use infrared cameras to detect hotspots in Santa Fe National Forest

VIDEO: Forest rangers are using infrared technology to detect residual heat from pile burns, helping them to identify hotspots and prepare for wildfire season. “Everybody can remember the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak Fire, and that was in the summer of 2022,” said Brandon Glenn, fire management officer for the Española Ranger District. “So the following winter of 2022 to 2023, we didn’t do any prescribed fires that year.” Glenn says they are done with pile burns this year. They burned 100,000 acres in the Pacheco and Hyde Park areas. He said this year was about catching up after prescribed burn pauses following the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak Fire and the pandemic. Now, they have more tech in their tool belts. Glenn said crews use aerial infrared cameras to fly over the pile burns to spot residual heat.
KOB-TV NBC 4 Albuquerque