The Fires: Sunday Morning Update
An FBI reward; Containment progress; Power and infrastructure repairs; Homecoming, and more.
The South Fork Fire is 31% contained, and has burned 17,551 acres.
2 lives are confirmed lost. Over 1,400 structures were affected by the blaze.
Cloudcroft’s own are working to restore the area. The Sacramento Hotshots are still attending the blaze. Otero County Electric Cooperative line crews are working to restore power and repair broken poles.
Infrastructure is in the midst of repairs, and the clean-up process is underway.
Searching for the Cause
The FBI has joined the investigation into the cause of the fires. Tips can be left online or over the phone at 1-800-225-5324.
The Federal Bureau is offering at $10,000 reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for starting the fires,” according to the Albuquerque FBI Division.
The cause of the fires is on everyone’s mind.
An excellent story in Source NM reports that the “Incident commanders have also listed the cause being ‘human’ in daily summaries provided by the Southwest Coordination Center since the South Fork and Salt fires started.“
“That was an error, says Lessa Peter, a spokesperson for the fire response team. She told Source New Mexico “that the cause listed as ‘human’ is an error. It’s a result, she said, of an automated system incorrectly converting text entered as ‘undetermined’ to ‘human.’”
As for lightning igniting the blaze, Source NM reports that data they reviewed “shows there were few lightning strikes in the area in the days before the fire began. There were about 100 lightning strikes in June in the area of the fires before the fires began, records show. However, the closest ones to the ignition sites struck the ground on June 7, 10 days before the fires started.”
Read more of their thorough analysis of lightning strikes here.
Allowing Limited Return
As of 7:15 Sunday morning, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s department released a video stating that “residents of Ruidoso Downs may indeed return home today at 8 AM.”
The Watch Duty App reports a full, timely list of neighborhoods who can return home in the coming days. Officials ask that only full-time local residents return at this time.
Last night, residents in the Ranches of Sonterra 1, 2, and 3 Rancho Ruidoso Valley Estates, and Enchanted Forest were able to access their subdivisions through highway 380.
As per Michael Sylvester, Watch Duty reporter: “Any subdivisions that are in the exclusion areas are still evacuated. Those areas are as follows: High Mesa; Lakeside Estates; Cedar Creek; Alpine Village; Musketball Court; Eagle Creek Acres; Ski Run Road; Barney Luck; Gavilan West; Allan P. Aschoff; and any other areas that were affected by the fire.”
For the Salt Fire, which stands at 7% containment and 7,775 acres as of this morning, residents who wish to return home should register with the Mescalero Apache Conservation Law Enforcement Office, located at 278 Pine Street.
Evacuations have been lifted for residents of the Windmill area, Summit Drive, Mirage Lane and Fantasy Lane off Highways 244 and 70, up to Apache Summit. The evacuation lift is only open to residents.
Chatto Run remains closed.
What to Expect?
Homes may be without gas, electricity, and water for some time.
Any open grocery stores will likely carry only dry goods, and accept only one form of payment (cash or card.)
Gas for their vehicles may not be available.
Internet and cell service may not be restored for weeks, even months.
Emergency services, like 911, may not be available.
The hospital, Lincoln County Medical Center, is working to resume services by Monday.
How Can Returning Residents Prepare?
Bring groceries and water, enough for one week.
Bring your meds.
Bring pet supplies.
If you do not have funds, the Inn of the Mountain Gods has necessities available.
For Mescalero’s returning residents, power and water outages can be reported to the Tribal Emergency Operations Center at 575-464-9214.
Read our coverage of the fires: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Read Part One of our exclusive interview with the Sacramento Hotshot crew, here.
Stay vigilant out there.