The 2019 fire season is off to a slow start in Grant County, according to Gabe Holguin, fire staff officer for the Gila National Forest, who said crews are looking at an “average” year for wildfires. “We’ve had about eight fires so far over about 24 acres,” he said. By comparison, in 2014 the Signal Fire near Pinos Altos started on Mother’s Day, burning 5,800 acres by the time it was under control on May 22 of that year. During a presentation at the Grant County Commission’s Tuesday work session, the fire officer outlined five measures for predicting the upcoming fire season: monsoon conditions; drought; fine fuels conditions or grasses — the “one-hour fuels,” as he called them, since they tend to dry to a combustible condition within an hour of exposure to sunlight; seasonal temperatures; and the spring and early summer weather predictions.