Ruidoso Fire Update: Horse Racing Returns, All Reentry Zones Now Open, Businesses Reopening and Cleanup

All No Entry and Exclusion zones in the fire impacted areas of Ruidoso are now open per New Mexico Fire officials.

There are still firefighters, firefighting equipment, utility company workers and vehicles traveling through the area.

Their work is critical to restore utilities and services, and conditions in the exclusion zones pose a safety risk to the emergency personnel as well as the public. Please be patient and allow them to complete their work. Contact the Village of Ruidoso and Lincoln County Emergency Operations Centers for more information. 

Closures: A South Fork Fire Emergency Closure Order was issued on June 20, 2024, for national forest lands within the Smokey Bear Ranger District. The identified areas, and roads and trails therein, are closed to public access to allow firefighting personnel to work and through the fire area safely. More information is available at www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lincoln/alerts-notices/?aid=88199.

The Mescalero Apache Tribe issued a Class V/Stage II – Extreme Fire Restriction Notice on June 28, 2024. More information is available at https://mescaleroapachetribe.com.

A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the fire area. Public/commercial drone flights are also prohibited within this area. If you fly, we may have to ground our air resources. Visit https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html for more information.

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: www.lincolncountynm.gov

Mescalero Apache Tribe: https://mescaleroapachetribe.com

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

Business is attempting to get back to business. 

There are still hotspots being tamed and smell of burnt embers and soot continues to envelope Ruidoso and the surrounding areas as local residents begin picking up the pieces of their lives that were upended when the South Fork and Salt Wildfires threatened their homes and livelihoods with significant area damage and much property loss.

In Ruidoso there’s still a large law enforcement presence, from local, to state, and even federal officials and will continue to be for a while as assessments are done, relief money comes and the rebuilding begins.

The core business district was unharmed from flames, though soot and smell are an issue, thus, business owners are opening up, just trying to assess the damage to figure out where they stand, and see what the future holds for them and to form a go toward plan. 

Ruidoso Downs plans to run this weekend but note there are no available hotel rooms in Ruidoso so a stay in Alamogordo would be the necessary plan if attending. Jockeys have run practice laps at the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack in preparation for races scheduled to happen this weekend and all is set to go live. 

However the Mayor of Ruidoso issues caution.  Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford said he’s happy to see businesses in the town reopening so quickly, but wants tourists to be aware that the town isn’t fully operational.

“I’m all in favor of businesses getting back to business. These people cannot afford to be out of work. The employers cannot afford to not have them. So I’m excited that we’re getting back. There’s no place for those [tourists] to stay right now, so the people coming in for the races will have to leave after the races, Crawford told the public as reported by KUNM News. 

Mayor Crawford said that the village is collaborating with state and federal officials to ensure residents who have lost property have a place to stay.

“We’re making sure that we secure funding and that we’re able to get the appropriations that we need so that our community can come back,” he said. “So many of our businesses are damaged now, and we want to make sure that the employees that don’t have homes, that we’re able to give them something to live in so that we don’t lose them permanently.”

According to village officials, residents who are in need of shelter can find it at White Mountain Relief Center at 687 Hull Road, where Red Cross and FEMA officials will be available for assistance.

John Rabin, the assistant administrator for response at FEMA, said that his agency would identify and meet the needs of victims that local and state officials may not be able to. Most people affected by the fires or flooding may be eligible for disaster assistance under FEMA's Individuals and Households Program.

The money provided by FEMA can be used to cover:

• Basic home repairs
• Displacement
• Personal property loss
• Rental Assistance
• Serious needs like supplies
• Transportation
• Child Care
• Moving and Storing Expenses
• Computer Assistance

It's important to know that money from FEMA doesn't have to be repaid. There are several ways you can apply for wildfire relief:

• Apply at DisasterAssistance.gov
• Use the FEMA app
• Call the FEMA hotline at (800) 621-3362. Calls are accepted every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The road to recovery will be slow and tedious but Ruidoso will come out stronger than before. Stay turned to Alamogordo Town News and KALHradio.org for further updates.

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