The city of Ruidoso Downs was ordered to evacuate fully on Tuesday afternoon due to the Salt Fire shifting.
Ruidoso Downs is located just east of the Village of Ruidoso and was only partially evacuated in Monday’s order, according to Kerry Gladden, spokesperson for the village.
“The Salt Fire is making a run towards the City of Ruidoso Downs,” the village posted on its Facebook page.
Residents shouldn’t try to take belongings or save their property but should leave immediately, officials say.
Phone and internet are spotty or experiencing outages in and around Ruidoso due the fires burning infrastructure, officials said.
The only way for Ruidoso Downs residents to evacuate is east along U.S. Hwy. 70 toward Roswell. The city has a population of about 2,600 people.
The Salt Fire is the smaller of two major fires burning around Ruidoso. It totals roughly 5,500 acres. The much larger South Fork Fire is burning on the west and north of Ruidoso.