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Firefighters help respond to flooding in area impacted by South Fork and Salt fires

The Smokey Bear Hotshots from the Lincoln National Forest filled sandbags on Sunday, June 30, 2024, to assist the local community as they try to protect their homes and businesses from recent flooding.
Stacy King-Powers
The Smokey Bear Hotshots from the Lincoln National Forest filled sandbags on Sunday, June 30, 2024, to assist the local community as they try to protect their homes and businesses from recent flooding.

On Monday, Fire crews focused on helping local officials and residents with sandbag operations and other flood mitigation efforts, according to a release from the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5. Officials said in an update Tuesday morning that support crews filled 18,000 sandbags and assessed over 4,000 structures across the area impacted by the South Fork and Salt Fires.

Officials announced Tuesday morning that the South Fork fire was 85 percent contained while the Salt fire was 84 percent contained. The incident management team announced Tuesday that crews will be monitoring changing weather and possible flash flooding as the chance for scattered storm activity may increase.

The Village of Ruidoso announced road closures were in place Tuesday morning for
these areas:

Cree Meadows at Wiley Road

Cree Meadows at Hull Road

Gavilan Canyon: Meander at Sutton

Main Road into the Upper Canyon remains closed.

Village officials warn anyone traveling Paradise Canyon to slow down on the roads due to crews clearing debris from the area.

More information:

Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmmea-south-fork-and-salt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWIMT5

Smoke Outlook: https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook/430b2c05

Lincoln County Government: http://www.lincolncountynm.gov

Mescalero Apache Tribe: https://mescaleroapachetribe.com

Village of Ruidoso: http://www.ruidoso-nm.gov/south-fork-fire

 

Anthony Moreno serves as the Director of Content at KRWG Public Media. He also is host and executive producer for "Fronteras-A Changing America" and "Your Legislators" on KRWG-TV.