Current:Home > NewsNew Mexico village of Ruidoso orders residents to evacuate due to raging wildfire: "GO NOW"-LoTradeCoin
New Mexico village of Ruidoso orders residents to evacuate due to raging wildfire: "GO NOW"
View Date:2024-12-23 23:36:06
Residents of the southern New Mexico village of Ruidoso were ordered to flee their homes Monday without even taking time to grab any belongings due to a fast-moving wildfire.
"GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately," officials with Ruidoso, home to 7,000 people, said on its website and in social media posts at about 7 p.m.
Traffic clogged downtown streets of the normally pastoral village and summer vacation destination for hours Monday as smoke darkened the evening sky and 100-foot flames climbed a ridgeline. By Tuesday morning, city webcams showed a deserted main street with smoke still wafting in the sky.
CBS Albuquerque affiliate KRQE-TV reported that Ruidoso officials said there was hot ash from the fire falling in parts of the nearby community of Alto. People were being asked to call 911 if they saw any hot ash spots or active flames.
"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."
New Mexico wildfire map
Officials created a map showing where the South Fork Fire and the smaller Salt Fire were burning and what areas were at risk.
Accountant Steve Jones said he and his wife evacuated overnight as emergency crews arrived at their doorstep and dense smoke filled the Ruidoso valley, making it difficult to breathe.
"We had a 40-mph wind that was taking this fire all along the ridge, we could literally see 100-foot flames," said Jones, who relocated in a camper. "That's why it consumed so much acreage."
He said cellphone and internet service failed with the evacuation underway, while villagers tuned into AM radio for updates, packed up belongings and drove off from the town, which is about 130 miles southeast of Albuquerque.
"The traffic became bumper-to-bumper, slow-moving, and people's nerves became a little jangled," he said.
The Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off electricity to part of the village due to the fire, which had grown to at least 1,280 acres at the time the evacuation was ordered, KOAT-TV reported. The utility said it cut power to some 2,000 homes and businesses.
State police in southern New Mexico said they were experiencing phone outages that might impact emergency responses.
Ruidoso fire containment
As of Tuesday morning, officials said the South Fork Fire covered 13,921 acres and was zero percent contained. Multiple structures are under threat and a number have been lost, officials said. A portion of U.S. Highway 70 was closed south of the village.
The glow from the fire could be seen Monday night from a webcam in the downtown area, where 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 was burning on tribal and U.S. Forest Service land within areas surrounding Ruidoso.
The Salt Fire also was burning on the Mescalero reservation and southwest of Ruidoso. It was at 4,876 acres as of Tuesday morning with no containment, officials said.
Ruidoso fire pictures
The village of Ruidoso is about 75 miles west of Roswell, where several evacuation centers were set up. Roswell officials said provisions were also being made for people with recreational vehicles or large animals and that Roswell hospitals were trying to accommodate as many patients as possible who were being moved out of the Ruidoso hospital.
An air quality alert was issued for very unhealthy air in Ruidoso and surrounding areas due to smoke.
The Washington Post notes that the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated Ruidoso as a high-risk area in 2000 due to the thick forests surrounding it. They could serve as fuel for wildfires and lead to "catastrophic" damage, FEMA said.
- In:
- New Mexico
- Wildfire
- Wildfires
veryGood! (35347)
Related
- Arkansas governor unveils $102 million plan to update state employee pay plan
- Nvidia, chip stocks waver after previous day's sell-off
- Patrick Surtain II, Broncos agree to four-year, $96 million extension
- Ultra swimmer abandons attempt to cross Lake Michigan again
- Can I take on 2 separate jobs in the same company? Ask HR
- Woman who 'blacked out from drinking 6 beers' accused of stealing casket with body inside
- A Florida county’s plan to turn a historic ship into the world’s largest artificial reef hits a snag
- Orlando Bloom Has the Perfect Response to Katy Perry's NSFW Comments About Sex and Housework
- New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
- California companies wrote their own gig worker law. Now no one is enforcing it
Ranking
- Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon quit X, formerly Twitter: 'Time for me to leave'
- 1000-Lb. Sisters’ Tammy Slaton Picks Up Sister Amy’s Kids After Her Arrest
- Jessica Simpson Is a Proud Mom in Back to School Photo With All 3 Kids
- College football's cash grab: Coaches, players, schools, conference all are getting paid.
- Two 'incredibly rare' sea serpents seen in Southern California waters months apart
- How much should you have invested for retirement at age 50?
- Steward CEO says he won’t comply with Senate subpoena on hospital closings
- Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler to face Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka in TV battle
Recommendation
-
Mississippi man charged with shooting 5 people after not being allowed into party
-
Americans who have a job are feeling secure. Not so for many who are looking for one
-
Debate Flares Over Texas’ Proposed Oil and Gas Waste Rule
-
Underwater tunnel to Manhattan leaks after contractor accidentally drills through it
-
Ben Affleck and His Son Samuel, 12, Enjoy a Rare Night Out Together
-
White Lotus' Meghann Fahy Debuts Daring Sheer Lingerie Look on Red Carpet
-
John Stamos Reveals Why He Was Kicked Out of a Scientology Church
-
What Would Summer House's Jesse Solomon Do on a Date? He Says...