Ruidoso wildfires destroy hundreds of structures

Residents will be allowed back into Ruidoso beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, village officials announced on Saturday morning as fire dangers subsided.

Re-entry is for local, full-time residents only. Village officials are asking that second homeowners and tourists "refrain from coming to Ruidoso to give residents time to get back to their properties and survey any needs or damages," the village announced.

The resort community was evacuated early last week after two wildfires raged out of control, ultimately burning an estimated 1,400 structures.

Officials on Friday reported "minimal fire behavior" at the South Fork and Salt fires because of heavy rain and hail on Wednesday and "persistent high humidity into Thursday."

The South Fork Fire has blackened 16,349 acres north of Ruidoso and the Salt Fire, 7,672 acres south of the village, which remained evacuated Friday.

Containment of the fires remained at 0% on Friday. The cause of the fires remained undetermined.

More than 1,000 firefighters were in the area by week's end, officials said, including about two dozen who alternated shifts from the Clovis Fire Department.

Clovis Battalion Chief Chris Elam said their mission was to protect property in the Alto area, about five miles north of Ruidoso in the Lincoln National Forest.

Fire would spread through pine trees, he said, so firefighters would spray water in the trees in hopes of preventing fire from reaching buildings.

Resources fighting the fires include 22 crews, 87 fire engines, 15 bulldozers and 16 water tenders. Helicopters and air tankers are available for bucket and retardant drops, officials said.

Authorities recovered the remains of two people following a chaotic evacuation of Ruidoso on Monday night. 

Patrick Pearson, 60, was killed Monday evening while trying to walk away from his residence at the Swiss Chalet Hotel on N. Mecham Road in Ruidoso.

Shortly before noon on Tuesday, New Mexico State Police recovered the skeletal remains of an unidentified person in the driver's seat of a burned Toyota Camry on Ranier Road in Ruidoso.

President Joe Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a major disaster declaration Thursday on behalf of Lincoln and Otero counties and the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Caty Payette, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich's office, said the declaration allows New Mexicans to access federal assistance for individuals and households. That assistance may include crisis counseling, case management, unemployment assistance and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

The declaration can also provide public assistance to state, tribal and local governments for debris removal and emergency protective measures. It also provides hazard mitigation assistance for governments and certain private nonprofit organizations to mitigate long-term risks from natural hazards.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and members of New Mexico's congressional delegation requested the emergency declaration after at least 8,000 people fled the mountain village.

Utility services, including electricity, water, internet and phones, remained shut down Friday across much of the area, according to an incident team update.

"Firefighters will continue constructing fire lines and utilizing hand crews and bulldozers to protect homes, properties and critical infrastructure," the update stated.

"Crews on the South Fork fire continue engaging the fire with hand tools directly at its edge, utilizing hose along handlines and dozer lines to extinguish smoldering fuels and building fire line with machinery."

Firefighters planned to continue mop-up operations into the weekend, extinguishing and removing burning materials along the fire's edge to keep fire from creeping past control lines, the update said.

The Eastern New Mexico News contributed to this report.