Residents of the town of Ruidoso, New Mexico, were told Monday to flee immediately because of a wildfire that was discovered west of the town that morning and grew to more than 5,000 acres by the end of the day, officials said.
“Immediate mandatory ‘go’ evacuation for the village of Ruidoso – go now!!” the village council said in all caps on its Facebook page shortly before 7 p.m
The South Fork Fire was discovered around 9 a.m. Monday on the Mescalero Reservation west of the village of more than 7,000 residents, and by 11:30 p.m. the blaze had grown to an estimated 5,252 acres, according to the New Mexico Forestry Division.
“Fire growth has been rapid with extreme fire behavior,” the division said. The fire was 0% under control at the end of Monday.
Multiple evacuation orders have been issued, telling city residents to leave immediately and warning against attempts to pack valuables or defend their property.
Hwy 48 and 70 at Apache Summit are closed. Evacuation is Sudderth to Highway 70 to Roswell. State Hwy 48 will be closed IMMEDIATELY from Alpine Village/University to State Hwy 220. US 70 is closed from mm 249 (at NM 244) 4 miles east of Mescalero to mm 258 2 miles east of Carrizo
— Village Ruidoso (@VillageRuidoso) June 18, 2024
There appear to be no deaths reported Monday evening. The number of structures lost was listed as unknown on government incident websites, but several structures were threatened.
Mary Lou Minic knew there was a fire in the area, but not how serious the danger was. She was among those now safe at an evacuation center in Roswell on Monday evening.
“We were getting ready to eat and the alarm went off: evacuate now, don’t take anything or pack anything, just evacuate,” Minic told NBC affiliate KOB of Albuquerque. “And within three to five minutes we were in the car and leaving.”
Hot ash from the fire fell in Alto, a community north of Ruidoso, the Ruidoso government said. A portion of U.S. Highway 70 near the preserve was closed, the report said.
The reserve said on its website that Mescalero protection went door to door telling people in affected areas to leave immediately and that fire and vehicle restrictions and closures were in effect.
The Mescalero Apache Tribe said it was opening an evacuation center at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Convention Center, and all nonessential tribal employees were encouraged to volunteer Tuesday. It also offered to house livestock in a rodeo center.
Electricity supplier PNM has disconnected power from part of Ruidoso at the request of first responders, the city said.
An evacuation center had opened at the Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell gym in Roswell, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) east of Ruidoso, and the nearby city of Alamogordo said it would send firefighters to help.
Ruidoso, Alto and the reserve are located in the Sierra Blanca Mountains, about 130 miles southeast of Albuquerque.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
The fire broke out as much of the American Southwest, including parts of New Mexico, was under “red flag” warnings due to the risk of fire due to very dry air and winds.
In Calaveras County, California, east of Stockton, a wildfire that has burned about 1,900 acres also prompted emergency evacuations Monday.
About 5,000 people were without power due to the fire. Aerial video showed planes dumping pink fire retardant material ahead of the fire and a wall of thick smoke.
Known as Cal Fire, the so-called Aero Fire started around 3:20 p.m. near Aero Road and Hunt Road in Copperopolis, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
CORRECTION (June 17, 2024, 10:56 PM ET): An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the Mescalero Reservation fire. It’s the South Fork Fire, not the Salt Fork Fire.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
