Camp counselor shares fire story

Imagine you are a summer camp counselor for children ages kindergarten through fifth grade, and a forest fire breaks out.

Stressful?

Katlynn Cooke, a 20-year-old Clovis native and a student at Eastern New Mexico University, was ready for it.

She has worked at Bonita Camp – located between Capitan and Ruidoso -- for three summers. She's seen wildfires before.

"I have never been in a place where I've had to evacuate but I stay pretty educated on the dangers," Cooke said.

This time the dangers threatened life and property as wildfire moved near the Angus community where Bonita Park of the New Mexico Nazarene District hosts its camp.

"We had groups coming in the same day the fire started and when it started it was over 10 miles from our camp," Cooke said.

That afternoon of June 17, several of the camp counselors noted poor air quality and decided to move all activities inside.

Cooke first learned there was a fire after waking up from a nap about 2:30 p.m. The sky, she said, had an orange hue. "The smoke was thick at this point and the fire was estimated to be four to five miles out," she said.

About that time, Cooke said counselors began voicing concerns to camp directors, but authorities determined there was still no immediate danger.

The children remained calm, she said, as counselors prepared them for possible evacuation. "I know the kids earlier that day weren't very concerned and I'm not sure they really knew what was going on," Cooke said.

"I know the counselors were anxious. They wanted to make sure everyone was going to be safe."

Fires remained several miles away, but the decision to leave camp came about 7 p.m. that Monday night, Cooke said.

"We had no cell reception ... so to let us know to evacuate, cops showed up to help evacuate the camp and ensure everyone left in an orderly manner," she said.

"The escape plan was to report to our main building and from there we would help evacuate the campers then we would all make sure staff had a ride and everyone knew where they were going," Cooke said. "Roads going out of Capitan to Hondo were so packed due to others fleeing on Highway 70."

Cooke, who said her dad used to be a firefighter in the Air Force, seemed to take it all in stride.

Wildfires had come close to Bonita Camp when she worked there two summers ago and, this May, the "Blue 2 fire" burned about 7,500 acres eight miles north of Ruidoso.

"This time was a little scarier," she said, "especially with the Blue 2 fire only happening a few weeks (earlier)," Cooke said.

In the end, Bonita Camp was left untouched by the June 17 fires that scorched about 25,000 acres overall. On Monday, Cooke said, 100 campers were back on site, walking trails, ziplining, climbing rock walls and participating in regular worship services.