Wildfire — South Central Mountains, New Mexico

2024-05-24 to 2024-05-31 · South Central Mountains, New Mexico

Event narrative

The Blue 2 wildfire was discovered a few days after it's lightning caused initiation on May 16th within the old Little Bear burn scar. It began in a remote area of the White Mountain Wilderness just southwest of Bonito Lake and west of the village of Ruidoso. After an initial size of 45 acres, the Blue 2 fire grew quickly to 1,478 acres on May 24th due critical fire weather conditions highlighted by dry, windy, warm and unstable weather. Evacuations were put in place for Bonito Lake with shelters opened at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds as a result from the fire growth on May 24th, that expanded to the Villa Madonna Subdivision on the 25th. Red flag conditions allowed the fire to grow to 7,455 acres through May 25th. Some small containment up to 5 percent was finally accomplished on the fire by the end of the month. Thus far, no damage or loss of life has been reported.

Wider weather episode

Cloud to ground lightning was reported to have started a fire late on May 16th with the fire being discovered a few days afterward. The Blue and Blue 2 fires were located within the old Little Bear burn scar just southwest of Bonito Lake. Critical fire weather conditions allowed the fire to grow rapidly to the northeast toward the Bonito Lake area on May 24th and 25th. Some containment was finally being made on the fire by the end of the month.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1170230. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.