The South Fork and Salt Fires Blaze in Ruidoso, Mescalero Areas
Two fires spread over 18,000 acres in Lincoln and Otero County since Monday. The infernos remain at large.
UPDATE: Mayor Craig Turner called the Cloudcroft Reader to share some updated news this afternoon.
The Mayor said he understood the fire was "intentional.”
Read what he told us here.
The entire village of Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs are under mandatory evacuation orders as of last night due to the fast-moving South Fork and Salt Fires.
Here’s what we know so far.
The Smokey Bear and Sacramento Hotshots, and more, are fighting the South Fork Fire, which as of 8:00 AM on Tuesday, June 17th, has grown to 13,921 acres with 0% containment.
According to the Watch Duty App map, fire has affected parts of Alto, Alpine Cellars Village, and is encroaching Ponderosa Heights and Kokopelli Country Club—though the fire mapping doesn’t reflect structure protection efforts.
At 10:20 AM, Zakery Pressley with Watch Duty reported that an “estimated 500 structures have been impacted by this fire.”
You can download the Watch Duty app for timely updates, evacuation orders, shelter information, thermal satellite images, and more.
The only route out of Ruidoso was Highway 70 towards Roswell, and numerous evacuees shared photos of bumper-to-bumper traffic. The Allsups gas station in Hondo reportedly ran out of fuel yesterday evening, due to sudden demand.
The Red Cross has reported 270 individuals checked in to shelters in Roswell and 120 in Capitan. Social media has seen an outpouring of offers for sheltering evacuees and their livestock.
Several Facebook posts seek information on friends family members who weren’t in contact at the time of evacuations—cell-service was down for a while Monday evening. Reunite Ruidoso and Ruidoso Fire Support have a groupthink and information available through their Facebook pages.
For county evacuation notices straight to your phone, sign up for Reverse 911 alerts, here.
Air tankers have steadily been deployed and should continue throughout the day if conditions allow. You can watch their routes through this online flight tracker.
Hand crews and heavy equipment operators (dozers) are digging fire lines.
Along with the Sacramento and Smokey Bear Hotshots, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mescalero, Forest Service, Lincoln and Otero Counties, Village of Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs, Forestry Division, and other resources are employed against the blaze.
Tribal, federal, state, and local entities are in cooperation—”all available resources are responding to help secure line and perform point protection for homes in and around Ruidoso.”
The Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team has been called in, slated to arrive tomorrow by 6:00 AM.
The cause of the fires is still under investigation. The two converging fires threaten the village of Ruidoso “like a pair of tongs,” according to NM Forestry spokesman George Ducker.
The Salt Fire burned 4,876 acres with no containment as of 10:00 AM Tuesday. Evacuation centers are set up in Roswell and the Community Center Gymnasium in Mescalero—donations can be brought to the Gym. The Mescalero Rodeo Grounds will shelter livestock.
One structure has been reported lost due to the Salt Fire, as of 11:15 AM on Tuesday.
Cloudcroft has opened its arms to our neighbors, including shelter and food pantries. The Mountain of the Lord, Summit Inn, The Crofting, and more have offered beds to those forced to evacuate.
Tuesday’s weather conditions for Ruidoso: a high temperature of 85 degrees, zero percent chance of precipitation, 11% humidity, and gusting winds from the Southwest up to 20 mph.
The Village of Ruidoso webcam can be viewed here.
Stay safe out there, folks. We will provide more updates as soon as we can.
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Tonight, Cloudcroft Reader will attend the Cloudcroft Municipal Schools Board of Education Meeting, where a new School Board Member may be announced.
We’ve reached out to Village of Cloudcroft administrators on Cloudcroft’s Emergency Plan—we’ll post it ASAP.
We also look forward to sharing our recent interview of the Sacramento Hotshots next week.
Very informative article. Thank you for providing links to helpful resources and for keeping your readers updated on the fires.