In Alamogordo, a team of experts known as the Southwest Incident Management Team 5 moved in to take control over wildfire operation, and is dealing with flooding brought in by incoming rainstorms. Lynn McAloon is a public information officer for the team.
"I would say just monitor social media, monitor the incident reports that are coming out. Ruidoso, New Mexico is putting out very timely information," McAloon said. We are aligned with a lot of the other agencies that are putting out stuff. So try to plug in to as much information as you can. Don't listen to the rumors, listen to the official channels."
Between the South Fork and Salt Wildfires is the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino, and now, evacuee shelter.
In the midst of the disaster, The Inn of the Mountain Gods has been accepting evacuees and housing first responders. Frizzell Frizzell Jr., chief operating officer at Inn of the Mountain Gods, said that he’s proud of his team for the resilience that they’ve shown during this disaster.
"A lot of staff members are staying here. Pulling double shifts, pulling double duties to make sure that all the people that are staying with us [and] the first responders are well taken care of, and the evacuees are getting all the essentials that they need," he said. "[We're] getting a ton of donations, so the staff is holding up, I'm very proud of them, very happy with the extra work they've been putting in. We're a great team here. They're tired but they're going to get through it."
As crews on the ground deal with shifting weather and hazardous conditions, President Biden declared a state of disaster, unlocking more resources for emergency crews and victims. High-level officials including New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham and Congressman Gabe Vasquez visited the incident command post in Alamogordo to get briefed on the situation.
"You know, over the last three days, I've been speaking to the secretary of interior, the governor of New Mexico, our congressional delegation, our state forester, supervisor of the Lincoln National Forest. All the folks that I've spoken to have one goal and one mission in mind, to minimize damage. It's to work together, and is to respect tribal sovereignty as well as we go through this process. And so I feel very confident that folks are working in a unified fashion to really get together and have the best possible outcome. But the one thing that's also just very clear right now is that the next 4 to 5 days are going to be very uncertain as to how this fire behaves, to what resources we will have to mobilize to different parts of the forest. But we are prepared for that. And I think the Governor is leading by example, along with a lot of our other folks here who are there, community leaders, local otherwise," Vasquez said.
As of Friday morning, Officials have confirmed two deaths caused by the fires, and say that an estimated 1400 structures have been damaged by the wildfires. As thunderstorms roll through Southern New Mexico, emergency crews continue their work to extinguish the blazes that are still at 0% containment. Affected individuals in the Mescalero Apache Tribe and Lincoln County can apply for FEMA disaster assistance online at DisasterAssitance.gov or by calling the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.
