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Big Bend National ParkRoad into the Desert
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Big Bend National Park
Telephone Canyon Fire, 2006
Cars drive down to the Basin Campground as the fire burns in the background
NPS/Tom Alex
The fire burns on the other side of the gulch from the Basin Campground. Approximately 1 hour after ignition, March 8, 2006.
 

March 8/9, 2006                   38.2 acres            
During the afternoon of March 8th, 2006, at 3:45 PM high winds caused an electric power poll to break which upon striking the vegetation below ignited a wildfire. The fire began on a northern slope of the Chisos Basin nearby to the Campground and was pushed further north by high winds.

As a precaution, the Chisos Basin campground was evacuated the afternoon of March 8th. Road access to the Chisos Basin was also closed, and the backcountry campsites in the High Chisos were evacuated.

Fire fighting resources from within the park and the local area were mobilized to help with the fire on March 8th with additional resources ordered from outside the local area including a Type 3 Incident Management Team, a Hotshot Crew, a Type 6 Engine Strike Team, two helicopters and a Type II hand crew.

The fire was largely out by the morning of March 9th, and clean-up continued for an additional day. Quick action by both park staff and local resources helped prevent a much larger fire.

 
Longhorn in repose  

Did You Know?
As planning progressed for the new Big Bend National Park in the early 1940s, one prominent proposal called for the development of a dude ranch in the new park. Occupying as much as 200,000 acres, the ranch would have featured longhorn cattle. Objections by biologists helped eliminate the idea.
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Last Updated: August 12, 2006 at 15:41 EST