Residents of the New Mexico village of Ruidoso were told to flee immediately Monday because of a wildfire that was discovered west of the town and burned more than 1,300 acres, officials said.
“Immediate mandatory evacuation for Ruidoso Village – go now!!” the village government said on his Facebook page in capital letters just before 7 p.m.
The South Fork Fire was discovered about 9 a.m. Monday on the Mescalero Reservation, west of the village of more than 7,000 people, the New Mexico Division of Forestry said.
It had grown to 1,385 acres, according to the village’s population. incident information website, and several evacuation orders were issued. At around 7:30 p.m., the website said the fire was “an active, fast-moving fire.”
No deaths appear to have been reported as of Monday evening. The number of structures lost was listed as unknown on government incident websites, but several structures were threatened.
“Please do not attempt to collect belongings or secure your home – GO NOW,” the village warned.
Hot ash from the fire fell in Alto, a community north of Ruidoso, the Ruidoso government said. Part of U.S. Highway 70 near the reservation was closed, he said.
The preserve said on its website that Mescalero conservancy was going door to door to tell people in affected areas to leave immediately and that vehicle and fire restrictions and closures were in effect.
The Mescalero Apache Tribe said it was opening an evacuation center at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Convention Center and said all non-essential tribal employees were being encouraged to volunteer Tuesday. He also volunteered to house cattle at a rodeo center.
Electricity provider PNM de-energized part of Ruidoso at the request of first responders, the city said.
An evacuation center was opened at the Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell gymnasium in Roswell, about 70 miles east of Ruidoso, and the nearby city of Alamogordo said it would send firefighters to help.
Ruidoso, Alto and the reserve are in the Sierra Blanca mountain range, about 130 miles southeast of Albuquerque.
The fire broke out while much of the American Southwest, including parts of New Mexico, was under “red flag” warnings due to the risk of fires due to very dry air and winds.
In Calaveras County, California, east of Stockton, a wildfire that burned about 1,500 acres also forced emergency evacuations on Monday.
Around 5,000 people were left without power because of the fire. Aerial video showed planes dropping pink fire retardant ahead of the fire and a wall of thick smoke.
The so-called Aero Fire started near Aero Road and Hunt Road in Copperopolis around 3:20 p.m., according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protectionknown as Cal Fire.
CORRECTION (June 17, 2024, 10:56 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the Mescalero Reservation fire. It’s the South Fork Fire, not the Salt Fork Fire.
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