ABQ Zone Incident Management Team – Media & Public Contact:
2024.fisher@firenet.gov (575) 323 – 8053

July 8, 2024 Fisher Fire Update

Reported date / time: July 1, 2024 / 1825
Cause: Lightning Strike
Size: 7,211 acres.
Fuels: Oak and ponderosa pine litter.
Strategy: Confine and contain
Containment: 0%
Fire Behavior: Low to moderate
Resources: 107 Personnel, 11 Other Resources

UPDATE: The Fisher fire is currently 7,211 acres. Yesterday we conducted ground and aerial firing around the planned perimeter and today we will continue firing towards the interior. Yesterday aerial observations were limited by smoke, however, the afternoon allowed for increased visibility and updated acreage report. Today’s operational goal is to continue work around the fire perimeter as weather permits.

The intended outcome of the Fisher Fire includes encouraging the growth of native plants, increasing species diversity in the understory, and the restoration of wildlife habitat.

Location: Remote mountainous terrain of northwest San Mateo Mts. on the Magdalena Ranger District – New Mexico on the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands. The planning area of 8,400 acres is surrounded by previous treatment areas: Durfee Bolander RX units 6(2024), 7(2023), and 8(2023) to the north, the North fire (2016) to the east, the Bear Trap fire (2022) to the south, and by Baney RX units 6(2020) and 7(2021), Ranch Supply RX (2005/2006), and Sargeant RX (2002/2012) to the west. 

Values at risk: The Fisher Fire is not a threat to any communities, and there are no evacuations in effect. While there are no values within in the fire perimeter, there are some cultural and other values in the surrounding areas.

Safety: The health and safety of firefighters and the public are always the top priority. Members of the public should avoid the Fisher Fire area on the Magdalena Ranger District. Drones pose a serious risk to firefighting and can cause air operations to cease. The public is reminded that “If you fly, we can’t!”

Smoke may be visible from the towns of Magdalena, Datil, Dusty, Socorro, San Antonio, and the Alamo Navajo Reservation. Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. Information on air quality and protecting your health can be found online at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) website  nmtracking.org

Nearly three years after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico film set of “Rust,” actor Alec Baldwin is set to stand trial.

Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter for his role in the deadly incident that also injured the film’s director, Joel Souza.

Jury selection for Baldwin’s criminal trial begins Tuesday. It’s unclear if the actor will take the stand to testify.

How did we get here?

Baldwin was rehearsing with a prop gun for a scene on Oct. 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has maintained in multiple interviews that he did not pull the trigger and that the gun misfired a bullet. Baldwin told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he was taking direction from Hutchins and pulled the hammer back as far as he could without cocking it. But in 2022, results from FBI testing of the .45-caliber Colt prop revolver stated that the gun would not have gone off without the trigger having been pulled.

Just last month, Baldwin’s attorneys asked the judge to throw out the case, saying the firearm was badly damaged during forensic testing at the FBI lab, but the motion was denied.

Twists and turns

Baldwin was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter and a firearm enhancement charge. But the firearm enhancement charge was eventually dropped. It reduced his potential prison sentence by five years.

In March 2023, special prosecutor Andrea Reed stepped down after it was determined that she could not oversee the case because, as a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, she was disqualified under state law. But it didn’t stop there. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies resigned from the case and appointed special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason Lewis.

The following month, the charges against Baldwin were dismissed, with the prosecutors citing “new facts in the case.” “We therefore will be dismissing the involuntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Baldwin to conduct further investigation,” prosecutors said in a statement at the time. “This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled.”

Over the course of the next several months, Morrissey and Lewis continued to examine evidence and interview witnesses. In October 2023, two sources told NBC News that Baldwin and the special prosecutors had discussed taking a plea deal but that it was rescinded, and that the prosecutors intended to bring Baldwin’s case before a grand jury. Three months later, Baldwin was indicted by a New Mexico grand jury on one count of involuntary manslaughter.

Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in response: “We look forward to our day in court.”

Following the actor’s indictment in January, SAG-AFTRA, the union representing over 150,000 actors, issued a statement slamming the prosecutors’ decision to re-charge him.

The armorer sentenced to jail

At the time of Baldwin’s initial charges, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for overseeing the weapons on set, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in April and is currently serving an 18-month jail sentence.

Gutierrez-Reed was called upon to testify in Baldwin’s upcoming trial but she asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to answer any questions pertaining to Baldwin during her pretrial interview in May. In June, the judge ruled that Gutierrez-Reed would not have to testify.

Meanwhile, Dave Halls, the assistant director on set who pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation, is expected to take the stand. In interviews, Baldwin maintained that Halls declared the gun “cold,” meaning it had no live ammunition before it was handed to Baldwin.

But the prosecutors accused Baldwin of offering contradictory versions of events to law enforcement and in the media about whether he pulled the trigger and whether he was taking direction from Hutchins.

“In sum, every time Mr. Baldwin spoke, a different version of events emerged from his mouth,” said a court filing this spring from the special prosecutors.

Baldwin’s trial is expected to last about two weeks.

Los Alamos Shotgun League athletes shooting in the 76th Annual New Mexico State Trap Shoot in Raton are, from left, Alyssa Vigil, Mike O’Neill, Ben Salas, Jim Graham, and Vernon Vigil. Courtesy photo.

BY BARBARA VIGIL

Five Los Alamos Shotgun League athletes competed in the 76th Annual New Mexico State Trap Shoot recently at the Whittington Center in Raton. They are Alyssa Vigil and her father, Vernon Vigil, Mike O’Neill, Ben Salas, and Jim Graham.

Their scores and

Event 1 GRAF & Sons Singles in State Champion – Vernon Vigil  – 98/100

Event 2 NMSTA Memorial Handicap Junior Gold –  Alyssa Vigil – 1st place 95/100

Event 3 NMSTA HOF Doubles Class B – Alyssa Vigil – 1st place 90/100

Event 4 Winchester/White Flyer Singles in State Class C – Vernon Vigil – 1st place 97/100

Event 5  –  GPT Twin PAK Handicap  –  Fourth Place in State Champion – Vernon Vigil – 93/100

Senior Vet –  Mike O’Neill – 1st place 89/100

Junior Gold in State – Alyssa Vigil – 1st place 87/100

Event 6   –  Quality Lube Doubles  –  Junior Gold – Alyssa Vigil – 1st place 88/100

    Class D in State –  Mike O’Neill – 1st place 83/100

Event 7  –  Luke Bower Doubles  Class B – Alyssa Vigil – 1st place 92/100

Event 8 – Aiden Brogdon Singles in State Champion  –  Alyssa Vigil – 100/100

      Ben Salas Class AA 1st place 98/100

      Vernon Vigil – Class C 1st place 96/100

Event 9 – John Algrim Handicap  – Fourth place in State Champion – Ben Salas – 93/100

        In State Junior Gold  –  Alyssa Vigil – 95/100

Event 10  New Mexico  State Singles Champion

Event 11 New Mexico  State Doubles Class A  –  Alyssa Vigil – 1st place 88/100

Event 12 New Mexico State Handicap Championship in State  

HOA Junior Gold – Alyssa Vigil – 1199/1300

HOA Class C – Vernon Vigil – 1160/1300

Alyssa Vigil shot her first 100 Straight in Singles so she got to throw her hat for the other competitors to shoot at. She also received a leather shooting bag for becoming a member of the ATA Second State Team as a Junior with an average of 87.76.

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