Residents in New Mexico Village Under Evacuation Order as Wildfire Expands

The Village of Ruidoso in New Mexico announced that residents were being ordered to immediately evacuate from the village due to the ongoing spread of the South Fork Fire.

In a post on Facebook, the Village of Ruidoso wrote that “an emergency mandatory” evacuation had been issued for the village due to the rapidly spreading wildfire that had been discovered on Monday morning on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation.

“An emergency mandatory GO evacuation has been issued for the entire Village of Ruidoso because of the South Fork Fire from Sudderth/Mechem to Freedom Bloom at Big O Tire,” the Village wrote in the post. “Please do not try to gather belongings or protect your home – GO NOW.”

The Facebook post from the Village added that “Highway 48 and Highway 70 at Apache Summit” were closed, so the “only route” for residents to use for evacuation was “on Sudderth to Highway 70 and out to Roswell.”

Around 3:43 p.m., the New Mexico Forestry Division released an update stating that “at approximately 10:50 a.m., a fire was reported on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation near the south fork of the Rio Ruidoso, near Mescalero Cabins and Upper Canyon.”

The update noted that the “fire is 18 acres and growing and there is spotting ahead of the fire.”

NBC News reported that the South Fork Fire information website showed that the wildfire had “grown” to encompass “1,385 acres.”

The Village of Ruidoso’s information website for the fire states that an “evacuation center” was available at “Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell.”

“People with livestock and RVs can head to the Eastern New Mexico state fairgrounds,” the website adds.

In a Facebook post around 9:44 p.m., the Mescalero Apache Tribe wrote that it was opening an “Evacuation Center at Inn of the Mountain Gods Convention Center,” for all people, “Tribal or non-tribal.”

Other areas that are under “GO” status for immediate evacuation are Upper Canyon, Brady Canyon, Ponderosa Heights, Alpine Village, Cedar Creek, and Flume Canyon, according to KOAT Action News 7.

The outlet reported that “power is out in parts” of Ruidoso Village, and the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) reported that “more than 2,000 people” were left impacted.