April doesn’t just mean it’s baseball season. It’s also fire season, and a group in Placitas is trying to ensure residents know how much danger is out there.
Placitas Resilience & Emergency Preparedness Alliance (PREP) is hosting a May 12 presentation by District Ranger Ken Born of the U.S. Forest Service on possible wildfire behavior in Placitas. Born plans to use a computer model to illustrate what could happen. The Forest Service’s FSPro program takes into account historical weather, local fuel conditions and terrain to determine community-specific probabilities.
Sandoval County Emergency Manager Dan Heerding said the Placitas Corridor is considered at high wildfire risk. Jay Rodman, who sits on the PREP board of directors, said the time is right for Born’s talk, because the environment is conducive for wildfire danger, with high winds and dry fuel surrounding the community, which is surrounded by heavily forested areas. He said he wants attendees to obtain a better understanding of their options for making their homes less vulnerable, should a blaze start in, say, Las Huertas Canyon or a residence catch fire and threaten others.
The event will take place at 7 p.m. at Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, 7 Paseo De San Antonio Road. It will also be available via Zoom (Meeting ID: 919 3097 6338 Passcode: 474953). Afterward an audio recording will be posted on the PREP and KUPR websites. After the presentation, Born will host a question and answer period.
PREP, launched in March 2025, aims to arm residents with information and resources that will help prepare for an emergency and best avoid or minimize injuries and property damage. Rodman said the group hosts about four presentations a year, with topics appropriate for that particular time.