For that country to be burning at all, even at only 1.5 acres, in mid May is not a good sign. I worked for the Forest Service in Arizona on the Kaibab NF and in New Mexico on the Cibola NF from 1973 to 1981 and was used to the one or two year droughts we had then. This current drought in the southwest is incredible and one sign of it is when the Santa Fe has starts in early May. If it did have starts in mid May they could have been allowed to burn and if not, they didn't need water dropping helicopters. The Lincoln having starts in April is not unusual. The large fires on the Carson NF in the past several years were unheard of in the seventies. Working on the Carson NF in fire management then was almost like working in fire management on the National Forests in Alaska, that is, all your fire experience was gained on off Forest assignments.
Thanks for sharing this news.