Heavy rain and hail fell Wednesday around Ruidoso, New Mexico threatened by two wildfires that have killed at least two people and damaged an estimated 1,400 structures. The rain offered the hope of some assistance for firefighters, but added the threat of high winds and flash floods.
Air tankers dropped water and red retardant earlier on the pair of fires growing in a mountainous part of the state where earlier in the week thousands of residents of the village of Ruidoso were forced to flee the larger of the two blazes, the South Fork Fire, with little notice.
Of the estimated 1,400 structures destroyed or damaged in the South Fork Fire, about 500 could be homes, New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham said in a news briefing Wednesday night.
"It's not confirmed, that about 500 homes are in that mix, again making this one of the most devastating fires in New Mexico's history," Grisham said.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said that the state's entire congressional delegation has sent a letter to President Biden asking him to issue a major disaster declaration for the fire.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the South Fork Fire had burned more than 16,600 acres, according to the forestry division, and the Salt Fire had burned just over 7,000 acres. Their combined area is larger than the island of Manhattan. Both had no containment. The causes of both fires remain under investigation.
Lujan Grisham said in a Thursday news conference that 200 to 300 more firefighters will be deployed to fight the South Fork Fire as it approaches high-density living areas, according to CBS News affiliate KHOU.
New Mexico State Police reported that Wednesday that it had confirmed two fire-related deaths in Ruidoso.
One victim, identified as 60-year-old Patrick Pearson, was found dead Tuesday on the side of a road near the Swiss Chalet Motel, state police said in a statement. He had suffered numerous burns. His family told KHOU that Pearson was a guitarist who played regularly at a Ruidoso bar.
"We are at a loss for words, and we are so heartbroken that this happened," his daughter, Christina Alvarez, told KHOU.
The skeletal remains of a second victim were found in a burned vehicle just before noon Tuesday, state police said. That victim has not yet been identified due to the severity of the burns, and no identification documents were found in the vehicle.
"We are very concerned about the potential loss of life, we know that there are several people still unaccounted for," Grisham said.
Ruidoso Assistant Fire Chief Ross Coleman gave media a look at some of the destruction, with home after home burned to the ground.
"There were about five or six houses right in here, and our fire chief just lost his house," Coleman said.
Roughly 8,000 residents remain under evacuation orders.
In one area, flames from the South Fork Fire came over a ridge and destroyed a hotel. Cars that were in a parking lot started to melt.
Weather patterns shifted Wednesday with moisture arriving from Tropical Storm Alberto in the Gulf of Mexico, said Bladen Breitreiter of the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque. He said rain could lead to dangerous flash flooding in newly burned areas in the mountainous region.
There had already been three confirmed emergency rescues from flash flooding, Grisham said in her briefing Wednesday night, and she expected "there will be more by the time we finish this press update. Stay out of the evacuation areas, heed the flash flood warnings."
The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for the area which expired late Wednesday night.
It wasn't immediately clear if the rain and hail that started around Ruidoso on Wednesday afternoon was falling on the fires themselves, or if it would slow their progress.
Ruidoso and much of the Southwest has been exceedingly dry and hot this spring. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped flames out of control Monday and Tuesday, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into the village. Along with homes and businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track were evacuated.
"(Crews are) working along the edges of the fire. They're trying to get some kind of containment and then also resources are engaged in structure protection which is getting ahead of the fire and doing what we can to try and save some homes," George Ducker, the Forestry Division communications coordinator, said.
Grisham said that over 800 first responders are battling the blaze, including 13 wildfire hotshot crews.
Grisham on Wednesday requested a major disaster declaration from President Biden's administration that would free up federal funding for immediate housing and other assistance for the people affected.
"New Mexico has faced disaster before, but the scale of this emergency requires immediate federal intervention," she said.
The day before, she declared a county-wide state of emergency that extended to the neighboring Mescalero Apache Reservation where both fires started and deployed National Guard troops. That declaration unlocks additional funding and resources to manage the crisis.
Grisham said the two southern New Mexico wildfires together have consumed more than 31 square miles. The exact causes of the blazes haven't been determined, but the Southwest Coordination Center listed them as human-caused.
Ruidoso and areas around Santa Fe and Española, New Mexico, have served as the backdrop this year for filming of a movie starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera about the devastating 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California. That fire killed 85 people and nearly erased the community in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
While many older residents call Ruidoso home year-round, the population of around 7,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the warmer months, when people from hotter climates seek the cool of the leafy aspen trees, hiking trails and a chance to go fishing.
Nestled within the Lincoln National Forest, Ruidoso boasts nearby amenities including a casino, golf course and ski resort operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Horse races at the Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds as home to one of the sport's richest quarter-horse competitions.
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