RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) – Residents of Ruidoso, New Mexico, were ordered to flee their homes without having time to grab any belongings due to a fast-moving wildfire on Monday evening.
Videos from residents, Earthcam and NOAA showed large flames, smoke and traffic as 7,000 people evacuated the village.
Traffic clogged downtown streets of the normally pastoral village and summer vacation destination for hours Monday as smoke darkened the evening sky and 100-foot flames climbed a ridgeline. By Tuesday morning, city webcams showed a deserted main street with smoke still wafting in the sky.
“GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately,” officials with Ruidoso said on its website and in social media posts at about 7 p.m. Monday.
The South Fork Fire started Monday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, where the tribal president issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency. The fire was burning on tribal and U.S. Forest Service land within areas surrounding Ruidoso.
A second fire, called the Salt Fire, also was burning on the Mescalero reservation and southwest of Ruidoso. It was over 4.3 square miles as of Monday night with no containment, the forestry division said.
Watch videos of the evacuations below.