'A lot of folks have nothing': Ruidoso mayor warns as residents prepare to return home

The past week has been marked by disaster for people in and around Ruidoso, New Mexico.

The two wildfires that ravaged parts of the resort mountain community — the South Fork Fire and the Salt Fire — were reported on Monday, June 17. Twenty-four hours later residents were ordered to evacuate and more than 1,000 structures were destroyed by the fires.

Originating on the Mescalero Apache reservation, the two blazes have burned just over 24,000 acres in the area so far. With more than 1,000 fire, emergency, and law enforcement personnel on the ground, containment numbers finally ramped up on Saturday morning.

To date, two deaths have been reported as a result of the blazes and around 1,400 structures have been destroyed. Evacuation orders remain in effect through the weekend, but residents will begin returning to Ruidoso at 8 a.m. Monday, June 24.

Re-entry will be for local full-time residents only. Residents are being asked to return with a week's worth of food and water as local grocery stores remain closed. Residents are likely to return to homes still lacking electricity, gas, and water.

Devastating damage caused by the fires has left the resort communities to limp along in what normally would have been a busy summer weekend for residents and tourists.

By Saturday morning, officials reported that the South Fork fire is now at 26% containment and the Salt fire is at 7% containment, despite the fact that crews were only able to work for a few hours Friday before another round of heavy rain halted their advances.

During a news conference Saturday, June 22, Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford pulled no punches about the long road to recovery, saying it could be “five or six years” before residents see a full recovery for the town.

“This is just the very beginning, folks,” he said, adding later, “The government can’t do everything for us, so it’s going to be up to our citizens to rebuild this community.”

During a briefing Thursday, officials reported that the precipitation that moved into the area Wednesday slowed the momentum of the fires, while the thick canopy of cloud cover left the area cooler and allowed crews to start entering the area and hit hotspots around structures.

While officials had expressed optimism that the shift in weather would aid crews in lowering the containment level, by Friday afternoon, it was still at 0%.

'A good position to help people'

During Saturday’s news conference, Crawford stood alongside state and federal officials, like New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, to thank first responders and prepare residents for what lies ahead as they begin returning to their properties.

“A lot of folks have nothing,” Crawford said, “and it’s going to be emotionally impacting to these folks.”

For Grisham, the presence of FEMA at the disaster site is a “testament to the clear commitment” the agency has to help Ruidoso recover and rebuild.

“These emergencies, we’re no stranger to them,” the governor said. “That doesn’t make them any easier to address, or manage, or recover (from).”

Grisham thanked first responders and local communities that have risen to assist Ruidoso and said that while there is good news on the fires’ frontlines, there is still a lot of work to do.

“It’s not out, it’s not going to be out,” she said, “but we’re in a good position to protect people …”

Criswell noted that the recent disaster declaration over the fires is freeing up resources that are already finding their way to the community and promised that her agency would be on hand for the long recovery ahead.

"We will be by your side throughout this recovery," she said. "There will be tough days ahead, but we will continue to ensure we have the right resources here to support you."

South Fork Fire, Salt Fire update

An operational update posted online Friday by Southwest Area Incident Management Team #5, which has been at the helm of the response effort, said teams were making progress on both fires.

Brandon Glenn, operations section chief for Team #5, said the northern edge of the Salt fire around Highway 70 is already "looking really good."

"That's all secured as of now," he said. "That's really looking good. (Crews are) feeling confident about this."

Glenn reported that the majority of work on Friday took place around the Salt fire, along the northern and southern sides of the blaze, where crews were mopping up and securing various areas.

When it comes to the South Fork fire, crews focused on the northeast ridge of the fire, along Ski Run Road, mopping up around structures and working to secure the area up to Highway 48. But steep country and heat slowed their efforts, Glenn said, so they returned to the area Friday.

In the areas around Eagle and Cedar creeks, several structures showed evidence of nearby burning, so crews are working those areas and assisting utilities in accessing the area to restore service.

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Dozer lines and hand lines were established on the northern edge of Ruidoso and in the Flume Canyon region, where crews continued working Friday to secure that area.

Current conditions for Ruidoso fires

An update posted Friday on InciWeb, a government website tracking wildfires, showed that the situation remains dire for people in and around the two fires.

Utility services, including electricity, water, internet and phones, remain down in the South Fork and Salt areas, straining — if not completely eliminating — communications in the area. Officials reported Thursday that mobile units had been deployed to provide internet service in the area, but it's unclear how effective those units have been.

Mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect for both areas and several roads and trails remain closed, including Highway 48 and Highway 70 at Apache Summit. The official evacuation route is Highway 70 to Roswell.

And while crews are celebrating the cooler, wetter weather that has aided their efforts, the report notes that thunderstorms expected in the area could cause flash flooding and debris flow, which will be especially dangerous in the face of thousands of acres of burned and broken timber.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Ruidoso fire update: Utilities down, evacuations lifted for residents