SANTA FE, New Mexico: As a wind-whipped wildfire tore through homes and other buildings in a mountainous village in southern New Mexico forcing thousands of residents to flee, and killing one person, officials warned the danger was not over.
A state of emergency was declared in the region that covers Ruidoso and neighboring tribal lands, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham deployed National Guard troops to the area.
Officials said that by June 19, a top-level fire management team took over as winds challenged crews.
Christy Hood, a real estate agent in Ruidoso, said the evacuation order came so quickly that she and her husband, Richard, only had time to grab their two children and two dogs.
The family headed out of Ruidoso, but what should have been a 15-minute drive to leave town took two hours, thanks to the heavy traffic.
“It looked like the sky was on fire. It was bright orange,” The Associated Press quoted her as saying. “Honestly, it looked like the apocalypse. It was terrifying, and sparks were falling on us.”
Over 500 structures have been destroyed or damaged, but it is unclear how many were homes.
The emergency declaration frees up funding and resources to manage the crisis in Lincoln County and the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Grisham said two fires have together consumed more than 31 square miles.
Wildfires have devasted more than 3,280 square miles this year across the country – a figure higher than the 10-year averages, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 20 wildfires currently burning are considered large and uncontained, including those in California and Washington.
New Mexico has grappled with a devastating series of wildfires in recent years. A 2022 blaze caused by a pair of prescribed fires set by the U.S. Forest Service merged during drought to become the largest wildfire in the state’s recorded history.
