In an update Saturday, the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5 reported that all zones in the Village of Ruidoso are now open to residents while workers address restoring utilities and services to the area. Officials said the South Fork and Salt fires were both at 77 percent containment, as of Saturday. The fires combined have burned roughly 25,000 acres on private, public, and tribal lands, according to the incident management team.
Officials say that crews continue with “mop up” work taking out hot spots within the interior of the fires using infrared detection to identify where remaining hot spots are.
Smoke may still have an impact in areas where the fires are burning late and overnight into the morning hours, according to officials.
Officials say evacuation sites on the Mescalero Reservation have closed, but donations can still be taken to the Inn of the Mountain Gods’ convention center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. FEMA is located in the Mescalero Community Center from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. while the agency is assisting the public, according to officials. Residents affected by the fires and flooding in Lincoln and Otero counties and the Mescalero Apache Tribe may apply for disaster assistance at DisasterAssistance.gov, downloading the FEMA app for mobile or by calling the FEMA help line at 800-621-3362 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. MT.
More information:
Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmmea-south-fork-and-salt
Smoke Outlook: https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook/430b2c05
Lincoln County Government: https://lincolncountynm.gov/
Mescalero Apache Tribe: https://mescaleroapachetribe.com
Village of Ruidoso: https://www.ruidoso-nm.gov/south-fork-fire
