According to state authorities, a strong wind caused a wildfire that destroyed more than 200 homes in a New Mexico mountain community and also killed two people.
Thursday saw crews working to restore power to some parts of the village. The school district’s website, email system, and servers have been affected by the lack of electricity. To fight the deadly fire, firefighters used a break from what had been a constant stream of relentless winds to get ahead.
After family members reported to Ruidoso police that they had received a report about the couple trying to flee, the remains of the couple were discovered Wednesday afternoon close to their home. Authorities are working to verify the identities of both the couple.
The fire had reached Ruidoso’s most densely populated areas, causing more evacuations of approximately 5,000 people. Laura Rabon, spokesperson for Lincoln National Forest, interrupts Wednesday’s fire briefing to remind people to get in cars and to leave the scene after flames leapt onto a road where crews were trying hold the line.
“We have had students who lost their homes. “We have to support them in Tuesday,” said Sara Ames Brown, high school English teacher. She was there with students as they evacuated by bus with flames visible outside.
Crews stopped the flames pushing into the village over the night. Rabon reported that progress continued on Thursday when helicopters dropped water and ground crews secured the lines on the east- and south-sides. They also set up hot spots in areas where flames had raged earlier in the week.
An estimated 9 miles (23 km2) of forest and grass have been torched by the fire. Strong winds battered the area, causing trees to fall and power lines to be down.
Forecasters and fire officials warned of persistent dry and windy weather conditions that prompted another day red flag warnings to the eastern third New Mexico and other parts Midwest.
Incident Commander Dave Bales stated that the strategy was to “attack while you can”, noting that wind gusts were expected to pick-up again Friday.
He stated that the crews are trying to keep the fire small, particularly since it is right in the community. “We have lost a lot of buildings so our crews are there on the fire front going direct.”
On Wednesday, six new large fires were discovered: one in Oklahoma, two in Colorado, and three in Texas. Wildland firefighters and support staff were trying to control 11 large fires that had charred more then 40 square miles (103 kilometers) in five different states.
The National Interagency Fire Center reported that 18,550 wildfires had erupted over 1,250 square miles (3.237 square kilometers) since the beginning of the year. This is a significant increase from the 10 year average of 12,290 wildfires, and 835 square mile (2162.64 km) burned.
According to fire scientists, the increase in wildfires has been caused by hotter and dryer weather combined with decades of suppression. This problem is made worse by the Western megadrought, which has been around for more than 20 years and which studies have linked to climate change.
Wildfires also erupted elsewhere in New Mexico: in the Rio Grande south-bound of Albuquerque and in the mountains northwest of Las Vegas, as well as in the grasslands near Roswell along the Pecos River.
