Campers left fire smoldering

Recently some campers, having passed several signs that prohibited fires except in developed campgrounds, built a campfire in a crispy dry meadow along the Pecos, above Cowles.  

The next day, in the afternoon, coals still produced steam when we poured water on the abandoned fire ring. Some coals had fallen out of the ring and burned the surrounding grass.

With the drought and extreme winds this fire could easily have taken out the entire eastern side of the Pecos Wilderness. Clearly we need a massive public outreach campaign to alert forest users to current conditions and the consequences of a thoughtless act.

Henry Carey
Santa Fe