Gila fire blamed on firefighter's errors The Associated Press      SILVER CITY -- An 11,000-acre fire that flared last month on the Gila National Forest was a mistake caused by a firefighter doing a test burn without proper authorization or backup, the U.S. Forest Service said.      "The Forest Service will take appropriate disciplinary actions," an agency news release said. It did not identify the employee.      The test burn was done as a prelude to a prescribed burn intended to improve wildlife habitat and watershed conditions. But Gila fire management officer Gary Benavidez said Wednesday the employee had no burn plan, failed to get an air quality permit from the state Environment Department, failed to get weather forecasts, including wind conditions, did not notify his supervisor or the dispatch center, and failed to ensure that backup firefighting resources were available.      "Clearly, mistakes were made here," Benavidez said. "We are confident the employee's actions were well-intended. Although the employee was engaged in a legitimate management action, he failed to follow our standard guidelines. We regret that this incident occurred and we are taking a pro-active approach to prevent this sort of error from happening again."      The test fire was set March 30 at Negrito Fire Base near Reserve. The fire escaped the employee's control, and he immediately called for help.      Firefighters believed they had doused the fire at 195 acres. They went out to check on it the next day but found the roads covered by three inches of snow. They assumed the snow had put out the fire, Benavidez said. It had not.      The fire was still smoldering in a patch of ponderosa pine duff, the partly decayed vegetation that often litters a forest floor.      Benavidez said the team violated requirements that a field inspection of the burn area be conducted before declaring the fire controlled.      "No field inspection of the burn area was conducted between the time the crews left the fire Thursday evening (March 30) and the report of increased fire activity three days later," he said.