Thousands flee as deadly fires surround New Mexico village

Updated 6 hours ago

New Mexico's governor has declared a state of emergency as two wildfires ravage a mountain range, forcing thousands to evacuate and leaving one person dead.

The fires converged near the village of Ruidoso, inside a tribal reservation, forcing its 7,800 residents to flee.

The South Fork Fire, which broke out Monday on Mescalero Apache tribal lands, nearly tripled in size overnight.

Another fire, the Salt Fire, was burning south of the village of Ruidoso.

Together they burned nearly 20,000 acres and were zero percent contained.

“The horrific South Fork and Salt Fires have ravaged our land and properties and forced thousands of people to flee their homes,” said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. “We are deploying all available resources to control these fires. »

His office confirmed one death as a result of the fires, without providing details.

On Monday evening, authorities in Ruidoso urged residents to evacuate immediately.

“GO NOW,” they urged on social media. “Don’t try to gather your belongings or protect your home.”

Christy Hood, a real estate agent in Ruidoso, told The Associated Press how she fled with her husband, their two children and their two dogs without even taking clothes or a toothbrush.

“As we were leaving, there were flames in front of me and next to me,” she told the news agency. “And all the animals were running, charging, trying to get out.”

About 500 structures were destroyed and most are believed to be homes, George Ducker of the New Mexico Forestry Division told the BBC.

Mr Ducker said both fires spread due to drought and wind, but what started them was still under investigation.

The fires caused the partial closure of U.S. Highway 70 south of the village and telephone outages that posed a challenge to Ruidoso rescue workers.

Neighboring communities opened shelters for evacuees, and the city of Roswell freed up hospital space for patients evacuated from Ruidoso Hospital.

Wildfires in New Mexico are not unusual, and fire forecasts for this year predict normal activity, Mr. Ducker said.

But parts of southeastern New Mexico are experiencing what is being described as an “exceptional drought.”

Ruidoso attracts tourists to its trails, parks, and wilderness because of its proximity to the Lincoln National Forest.

In California, firefighters are battling another wildfire north of Los Angeles, where more than 15,000 acres of land have burned and hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate.

The Post Fire was 31% contained as of Tuesday evening, according to the Cal Fire website.

The wildfires come as parts of the United States grapple with the first heat wave of the season.

More than 70 million Americans, or about one in five people, are under heat alert Tuesday. Some cities, including Chicago, exceeded previous temperature records for this time of year.

Warnings have also been issued in four Canadian provinces, with much of the continent now in the grip of a heatwave.

Wildfires occur naturally in many parts of the world and their overall numbers have declined over the past two decades.

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to human-caused climate change, fueled by activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.

Heat waves have become more frequent and more intense globally since 1950, according to the UN climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Such hot weather can create conditions that make wildfires more likely to spread, according to the IPCC, by contributing to longer droughts.