The rainfall Thursday, which ranged from 0.03 to 0.10, helped lower temperatures and raise humidity - two key aids to knocking down the fire that has burned 12 cabins and some outbuildings in the Pine Lodge area near Capitan.
``It rained a light rain for probably an hour,'' and the winds that drove the flames for the last few days were reduced to ``a light breeze,'' fire information officer Beth Wilson said.
Residents were escored into the Pine Lodge area Thursday for their first look at the damage.
Firefighters cleared 15 miles of line, but burnout operations that were to begin Friday were postponed because of the weather.
The ammount of precipitation received Thursday was small, but enough to delay ignition.
The forecast for Saturday shows windy conditions, leading fire managers to postpone the burn until Sunday.
Work on the human-caused 5,280-acre Lookout Fire 50 miles north of the Peppin Fire was reduced to mopping up operations and was on the verge of full containment, fire information officer Arlene Perea said.
The Type 2 management team left the fire Thursday evening and turned the fire over to a Type 3 team.
The total cost of the Lookout Fire was $1.27 million Thursday.
The fire was reported May 21 in the Gallinas Mountains. It flared from an abandoned campfire and destroyed a ranch house, chicken coop and two unoccupied communications buildings.
The lightning-sparked Peppin Fire has been burning pine, fir, pinon and juniper in the Lincoln National Forest since May 15.
The fire - nine miles northeast of Capitan in south-central New Mexico - initially crept along a rocky area, burning downed timber, before exploding last weekend.
The fire's ferocity and the rugged terrain prevented a ground attack on the fire immediately after it blew up.
The fire's cost as of Thursday evening topped $1.3 million, said Jackie Denk, a fire information officer.
Some 576 people were assigned to the fire, along with five helicopters, two single-engine air tankers, 25 fire engines, six bulldozers and 11 water tenders.
Related:
- New Mexico Wildfire Grows to More Than 25,000 Acres
- New Mexico Firefighters Try To Flank 23,000-Acre Peppin Fire
- New Mexico Governor Calls For Tankers Return
- Air Force Cargo Planes on Standby for Arizona Firefighting
- New Mexico Wildfire Burns 1,500 Acres, Home
- New Mexico Firefighters Brace for Strong Winds
- National Guard Black Hawks to Help Fight New Mexico Wildfires
- Firefighters Make Progress On Lincoln Forest Fire
- Crews Mopping Up Fires In New Mexico
