Ruidoso, NM – Residents of a southern New Mexico town were ordered to flee their homes Monday without even taking the time to grab belongings due to a fast-moving wildfire.
“GO NOW: Do not attempt to accumulate belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately,” officials in Ruidoso, home to 7,000 people, said on the website and in social media posts around 7 p.m.
Public Service Company of New Mexico cut off electricity to part of the village because of the fire, which had grown to at least 1 square mile (2 square kilometers) by the time the evacuation was ordered, KOAT-TV reported. The utility said it had turned off power to about 2,000 homes and businesses, but they should have evacuated anyway.
CBS Albuquerque affiliate KRQE-TV reported that Ruidoso officials said hot ash from the fire fell in parts of the nearby community of Alto. People were asked to call 911 if they saw hot ash spots or active flames.
Pamela L. Bonner via Reuters
State police in southern New Mexico said they were experiencing telephone outages that could impact emergency response efforts.
Late Monday evening, the State Forestry Division said the fire covered about 13.2 square kilometers and was zero percent contained. The agency said several structures are threatened and several have been lost. A portion of U.S. Highway 70 was closed south of the village.
The glow of the fire could be seen Monday evening via a webcam in the city center, where the lights were still on.
The South Fork Fire started Monday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where the tribal president issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency. It burned on tribal and U.S. Forest Service lands in the areas around Ruidoso.
A second fire, called the Salt Fire, was also burning on the Mescalero Reservation and southwest of Ruidoso. As of Monday evening, it was more than 6.5 square kilometers without containment, the forestry division said.
Kaylee Greenlee Beal / REUTERS
The village of Ruidoso is about 75 miles west of Roswell, where several evacuation centers had been set up. Roswell officials said accommodations were also being made for those with RVs and/or large animals and that Roswell Hospitals were trying to accommodate as many patients as possible being transferred from Ruidoso Hospital.
An air quality alert has been issued due to very unhealthy air in Ruidoso and surrounding areas due to smoke.
The Washington Post notes that FEMA designated Ruidoso as a high-risk area in 2000 because of the dense forests surrounding it. These could serve as fuel for wildfires and lead to “catastrophic” damage, FEMA said.
