Southern New Mexico wildfires lead to evacuation of village of 7,000

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — Residents of a village in southern New Mexico were ordered to flee their homes without taking time to grab any belongings due to fast-moving wildfires.

“GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately,” officials with Ruidoso, a village home to 7,000 people, said on its website and in social media posts at about 7 p.m. Monday.

Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off power to part of the village due to the fire, which was estimated at about 21.7 square miles (56 square kilometers) with zero percent containment, forestry and village officials said Tuesday morning. The state forestry division said multiple structures were threatened and a number have been lost. A portion of U.S. Highway 70 was closed south of the village.

“We were getting ready to sit down to a meal and the alert came on: Evacuate now, don’t take anything or plan to pack anything, just evacuate,” Mary Lou Minic told KOB-TV. “And within three to five minutes, we were in the car, leaving.”

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 was burning on tribal and U.S. Forest Service land within areas surrounding Ruidoso.

A second fire, called the Salt Fire, also was burning on the Mescalero reservation and southwest of Ruidoso. It was over 7.6 square miles (19.6 square kilometers) as of Tuesday morning with no containment, the forestry division said.

The Village of Ruidoso is about 75 miles (121 kilometers) west of Roswell, where several evacuation centers were set up.

An air quality alert was issued for very unhealthy air in Ruidoso and surrounding areas due to smoke.

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