Multiple reports of a low-flying plane, a flash and then the Luna fire

Andrew Sandoval, who lives in Luna Canyon, thinks he knows what started the now 9,000 acre Luna fire. The fire was first reported Saturday evening (Oct. 18) burning just a couple of miles from Chacon, New Mexico. Two days later, the fire remains zero percent contained, burning through hard to reach terrain, pushed by dry, hot and breezy conditions.

Sandoval was born and raised in the area and says he knows the deep canyons, ridges, forests and streams well. He grew up hunting and fishing them.

On Saturday evening (Oct. 18), at dusk around 7 p.m., Sandoval heard the drone of a big plane flying low up the canyon. “It wasn’t a Cessna, that’s for sure,” said Sandoval, who retired from New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

The plane had its lights on for night and was going slow. “I thought what in the world is going on,” he said. It wasn’t the first time he had seen a big plane flying up that way. About a year ago, he saw another one, flying the same route, he estimates only 300 feet off the ground.