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Ruidoso orders residents to GTFO due to raging wildfire: "GO NOW"


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Residents of the southern New Mexico village of Ruidoso were ordered to flee their homes Monday without even taking time to grab any belongings due to a fast-moving wildfire.

"GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately," officials with Ruidoso, home to 7,000 people, said on its website and in social media posts at about 7 p.m.

Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off electricity to part of the village due to the fire, which had grown to at least 2 square miles at the time the evacuation was ordered, KOAT-TV reported. The utility said it cut power to some 2,000 homes and businesses but they should have cleared out anyway.

CBS Albuquerque affiliate KRQE-TV reported that Ruidoso officials said there was hot ash from the fire falling in parts of the nearby community of Alto. People were being asked to call 911 if they saw any hot ash spots or active flames.

State Police in southern New Mexico said they were experiencing phone outages that might impact emergency responses to emergencies.

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My folks left town the day before and dodged the danger.   Fires are not uncommon around there, but this one looks to do some serious damage to the city itself.  A lot of friends and family have lost their homes and many more are in Roswell, or back in the panhandle with family, waiting to hear if their homes are lost.  It's basically a satellite Texas town, for those who don't know it.  

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Wife's family has a house there. Haven't been able to get in touch with anyone. Finally got a text from a neighbor that said the fire has moved on and the house has only some "slight burned area" on the back. Not exactly sure what that means. "Slight burning" doesn't sound good--but could be a lot worse I guess. Will find out soon enough. 

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30 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Spent a month there a few summers ago.  Really nice place, except for the fact that once Memorial Day hit, it got swarmed with Tech grads.

Yeah, the Ruidoso area and up around Red River are two places in New Mexico dominated by West Texans. It's close, convenient, and pretty affordable. I checked in with a buddy earlier this afternoon who moved his family up to Cloudcroft a couple of years ago (he lives part-time there while spending the rest of the time working in the Permian Basin). Anyway, he said the fire appears to be heading away from them and so far smoke-free, but their place is on a steep slope and surrounded by pine trees, so he's keeping a close eye on it.

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40 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Spent a month there a few summers ago.  Really nice place, except for the fact that once Memorial Day hit, it got swarmed with Tech grads.

Are you still experiencing a different kind of burning sensation?

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Was there the week of Memorial Day this year, stayed with a buddy at their "cabin" - really a 5 bedroom/4 bath/2900 square foot vacation home. It was awesome.

Just heard their cabin burned down in this fire. 

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My dad said someone set the fires and they caught them….   He also reports things he reads on Facebook as fact so I don’t trust that info. lol.  They had a condo there until a couple years ago.  

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36 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

My dad said someone set the fires and they caught them….   He also reports things he reads on Facebook as fact so I don’t trust that info. lol.  They had a condo there until a couple years ago.  

What I read from a weatherman who was posting said it was started by lighting. Don't know what is accurate, if anything. 

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16 minutes ago, Pods said:

Fire map looking like it's August already. 

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How the hell is that much of Florida on fire? It's a fucking swamp. 

If these idiots would just rake their forests none of this would be happening.

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Posted (edited)

Here's what's burned so far. The top one, as far as I can tell, was from last month and is no longer active.

Edit: Forgot the map:

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Poorly written article says 500 structures in one paragraph and 1,400 in another. Maybe each figure is for the separate fires. I can't tell, but either way, that's a lot of homes, condos, cabins, and barns for this small town and surrounding area.

Two fires threatening the community of Ruidoso expanded Tuesday, June 18, affecting at least 500 structures and prompting a second evacuation order, this time for the neighboring City of Ruidoso Downs.

The South Fork Fire burning to the west and north of the village grew to about 15,300 acres by mid-afternoon, with 1,400 structures reported lost, according to the New Mexico Forestry Division. The Salt Fire, burning to the south, totaled about 5,500 acres.

Both were 0 percent contained by 9 p.m. Tuesday. KOB-TV and Source New Mexico reported at least one death has resulted from the fires.

https://www.ruidosonews.com/story/news/2024/06/19/tuesday-ends-with-south-fork-and-salt-fires-uncontained-near-ruidoso/74148299007/

 

Radar indicates some rain in the area. Hopefully, Mother Nature is doing her bit.

Current webcam from Ruidoso: https://www.ruidoso.net/visitor-information/ruidoso-midtown-webcam

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Edited by bolverk
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2 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Yes. Okeechobee area was burning pretty steady March thru May this year pretty steady. 

The best thing that could happen to the Everglades and the waters around the keys would be to burn all that cane to the ground, till it over, and replant native grasses. 

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Welp, it appears my parent's cabin up at Alto burned down. They just bought it about six months ago. They were excited to spend a summer up there.  Boo.

Luckily it was a vacation place. My heart goes out to everyone who lost a place up there. It is going to take YEARS to rebuild in a community that small and remote.

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On 6/23/2024 at 3:37 PM, HookEm said:

Welp, it appears my parent's cabin up at Alto burned down. They just bought it about six months ago. They were excited to spend a summer up there.  Boo.

Luckily it was a vacation place. My heart goes out to everyone who lost a place up there. It is going to take YEARS to rebuild in a community that small and remote.

Yep.  Grand County in CO lost ~350 houses in the East Troublesome fire back in October 2020.  We still haven't gotten everyone rebuilt.  Lots of folks underinsured, too, because of construction costs that are through the roof.

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