By Morgan Lee and Andrés Leighton, Associated PressAn air tanker drops fire retardant called slurry over and around wildfire-affected areas in the village of Ruidoso, N.M., Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Weather patterns were shifting Wednesday with moisture arriving from the Gulf of Mexico, said Bladen Breitreiter of the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque. Ruidoso and much of the Southwest has been exceedingly dry and hot this spring. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped flames out of control Monday and Tuesday, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into the village. Along with homes and businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track were evacuated.
Ardis Holder, center, and her daughters Adalene, left, and Analece spend the night at a shelter in Roswell, N.M., after evacuating from Ruidoso, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Thousands of southern New Mexico residents fled the mountainous village as a wind-whipped wildfire tore through homes and other buildings.
The day before, she declared a county-wide state of emergency that extended to the neighboring Mescalero Apache Reservation where both fires started and deployed National Guard troops. That declaration unlocks additional funding and resources to manage the crisis.
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