Viewers in the Las Cruces area have reported a haze across the sky, and Las Cruces officials said the smoke from the Gila National Forest wildfire may be affecting local air quality. 

“You can notice it in the air today, You can hardly see the Oregon Mountains and that’s coming over from the Gila fires,” said Chris Minnick with the New Mexico Health Department.

Located Northwest of Las Cruces, the uncontrolled Whitewater-Baldy wildfire burning in the Gila National Forest is showing signs of smoke in the Mesilla Valley area, officials said. 

“We are pretty far away from the fire, but the smoke, it can carry very long distances,” said Minnick.

Fire officials said these strong winds have moved the smoke here to southwest New Mexico and into El Paso. 

It was the talk of the town today in Las Cruces where residents are under a smoke advisory.

“It’s the first thing I noticed when I came outside,” said Jennifer Linna. “It’s pretty gross, it’s pretty dark and smelly and nasty,” said Linna.

“We woke up this morning and you couldn’t see hardly anything,” said Austin Rivera from Truth or Consequences. Rivera and his girlfriend, Alyssa Rose drove to Las Cruces today. “We couldn’t see  in front of us, sometimes we had to stop it was so bad,” said Rose

Health Department Officials recommend people stay indoors as much as possible and avoid strenuous activities, like exercising outdoors.

Lois Joiner has lived in Las Cruces for 32 years she said she just can’t get away from it.

“It’s in the house and it’s in the dogs, and they want to go out and I don’t want to take them out,” she said.

“It smells, and my eyes burn,” said Joiner.

They added those with swamp coolers should avoid running the air conditioning or opening windows. People with medical conditions, like Austin Rivera, who has asthma, should be especially careful. 

"It actually affects me a lot. Ah the smoke ... (I) wake up in the morning, it's hard to breathe, hard to breathe at night ... my asthma's bad as it is, but the smoke makes it worse," Rivera said. 

“I take an inhaler, I’ve had to use it a lot more lately,” said Rivera.

“I actually went out and opened my truck door and ash just fell off my truck, that’s how bad it was,” said Rivera.

Many KFOX14 viewers in El Paso called into our newsroom today, concerned about a lingering haze in the air. 

City officials said today the air quality is good. But the New Mexico Department of Health says that could change as the forest fire continues to burn and the smoke spreads. 

“It will change on a daily basis, how much smoke we are going to see. That has to do with the conditions of the fire itself and the wind blowing the smoke into the area,” said Minnick.

Visibility can serve as a good substitute in determining air quality.  “If the visibility is poor… there is a good chance that the air quality is poor,” said Minnick.

The NM Health Department also advises residents to roll up their windows while driving and make sure to use the recycled air-conditioning while in the car. 

The wildfire, which was caused by a lightning strike May 16, has burned more than 152,000 acres near the area of Glenwood, N.M. Twelve homes and 13 outbuildings have been destroyed by the fire, and the communities of Willow Creek and Mogollon have already been evacuated. 

U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman announced today that FEMA approved New Mexico’s request for fire management assistance. The state is now eligible for funding through the Fire Management Assistance Grant Program which provides “mitigation, management and control” of fires burning on publicly or privately owned forest or grasslands which threaten a level of destruction that would qualify as a major disaster.

“I’m glad FEMA was quick to approve a disaster declaration. Additional resources will be a great help to the firefighters who are working hard to get this wildfire under control,” Bingaman said.

Currently, more than 1,100  personal have battled the fire.

Under the terms of the grant, the federal government funds 75 percent of firefighting costs including,  equipment and supplies, emergency work and operations centers, personal comfort and safety items for firefighter health and safety.  

As temperatures continue to rise and humidity drops in southwest New Mexico, residents of the Mesilla Valley are advised to take necessary precautions when spending any time outdoors. The website www.cdc.gov/ncidod/outdoor_spot has helpful outdoor safety tips. 

Current road closures and advisories: 
• Forest Road 141 at the old sawmill. 
• Forest Road 28 at Forest Road 94 junction (Collins Park). 
• State Route 159 at Whitewater Mesa. 
• Forest Road 150 and Forest Road 142 junction (Beaverhead Work Center). 
• The Gila National Forest closed the Catwalk National Recreation Trail until further notice. Visit the Gila National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/gila for further details on this closure.

For more information on air quality or for information related to health effects related to smoke from wildfires, go online to https://nmtracking.unm.edu/eh_alerts/

For El Paso air quality http://www.tceq.texas.gov/cgi-bin/compliance/monops/aqi_rpt.pl